


Oath of the Lawbreaker: Secrets of the Pirate Princess

by MikeAllenZ



Category: Disney - All Media Types, Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Criminal AU, Dungeons and Dragons AU, F/M, Mostly Tangled but other Disney properties are added too, Pirate AU, dnd
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2020-07-09 14:36:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 39,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19889449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikeAllenZ/pseuds/MikeAllenZ
Summary: Welcome to land of Ellastraya. An archipelago full of fun, adventure and treasure.A young halfling, son of a famous marine officer, finds himself guarding a book in a sacred library. Though his real passion is of alchemy, he does enjoy the life of a librarian with the exception of the villagers who happen to see his inventions and view him as a troublemaker.This changes when he befriends an odd half-elf woman who happens to be a pirate captain. She offers him a position on her crew. The Sunspark Pirates. And she and the rest of her crew explore this crazy continent together.~ A bit of a passion project I’ve been working on. Mixing Disney and DND (Don’t worry if you don’t know DND. It’s only inspired)~





	1. The Hillfar Library

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel and crew dock at Hillfar and meet a new friend and ally that she sees great potential in.

The continent of Peligo is a pirate's paradise. This archipelago is full of treasure, fun, and a mysterious history. The kingdoms of the world only started truly colonizing it a century ago, but already the civilizations that sprung have established towns and cultures, merging with the natives without much of a hitch. 

This is a land full of adventurers. And a certain young woman had dreams of exploring this land and discovering the pleasures it offered. 

~

A pirate ship with a yellow and pink flag docks by the town of Hillfar. A resident farming town for plenty of local dwarves. The Jolly Roger of a chameleon skull in front of a sun raised high. The sign of the Sunspark Pirates. A smirking roguish man stands by the bow. 

As the navigator of the crew, Flynn Rider knew just how rough the seas could be and the crew had just spent a good few hours in the rain. An insult to injury after their captain had recently lost something of value to an enemy who happened to sneak aboard. And all Flynn Rider wanted to do now was make this visit to a quaint farming town as pleasant as it could be for his girlfriend. 

He looked back to his fellow human companion who happened to be helping the horse with the task of pulling the boat to shore and making sure it stayed. “Lance, tell Blondie that the docks seem to be clear. No sign of marine’s.” The two of them had been pirates for longer than the rest of the crew, they knew exactly the techniques to use to avoid marines. 

Lance smirks and heads below deck. Just as he does a short haired Tiefling woman makes her way to the rogue. “Sending him down there to deal with your enraged girlfriend?” Cassandra went over to him, questioning his decision. 

Flynn looked back at her. The Tiefling woman’s appearance used to frighten him. Her skin is palish and she was tall and imposing. Though he was taller unless you included her horns. Her horns and her tail often lined themselves with golden jewelry. She truly looked demonic, hence his nickname for her “demon woman”. He meant it quite literally. 

“He’s sending good news. I’m sure she’ll be fine.” Flynn shrugged, looking back at the town. It looked pleasant and enjoyable. Surely Rapunzel would enjoy it. Their captain was always one for pleasant sunny days like this. Maybe a ride on Maximus around the island, surely that would cheer her up. 

“And what if he reminds her about what was stolen?”

“He won’t. Plus, you know Rapunzel. She’s more likely to sulk then get angry at him for that.” 

Cassandra had to admit there was some truth to that. Their captain wasn’t one for random bursts of anger. She had met a lot of pirates in her day, but Sundrop Rapunzel was a curious one. Cass fed her owl while she waited for any news about their captain who hadn’t much left her quarters since their last stop.

It wasn’t long in the slightest before Lance came back out and to the others, this time with their horse, Maximus, by his side. “She knows.”

“How is she doing?”

“As good as can be expected. But you know the captain, she’s always an optimist.” 

The door to the cabin opened as the captain arrived to the deck. A blonde half-elf woman with a chameleon on her shoulder. At first glance she never really looked like the threatening type. She wasn’t very tall like her crew, her blonde hair and cute nose almost made her look adorable. And she wore some very faded pink in her attire. She had some paint stains still remaining in allot of her clothes and she refused to wear shoes, so she just naturally looked like a mess. 

Her crew knew why this woman was a force to be reckoned with. But no one could tell at first glance. Especially as her chameleon, Pascal, seemed to be nuzzled into her neck, hoping to make her feel better.

“Hey Blondie.” Flynn was the first to speak up. “We’re here.”

“Yea... I heard” she smiled softly, still being polite but it could be clear it was still affecting her. 

Cass speaks up next “Hey Raps, if you’d like I can go to the library myself. It’s a beautiful day and...”

“Cass... you don’t have to. I’ll go with you.” Rapunzel gave her a smile as well, trying to make it seem even more genuine then she had given Flynn. 

“Are you sure, Raps?”

“I think that’s a great idea” Flynn stepped in and wrapped an arm playfully around Cass, as much as it annoyed him to do so, Rapunzel tended to prefer it when her crew got along. “You two go to probably the most beautiful library I’ve ever seen, and afterwards we can go to one of the best circuses I’ve ever seen”

The captain perked up a bit “Circus?”

Flynn smiled “Yea, Hillfar has one of the best circuses I’ve ever been too. And me and Lance used to work at one!”

“That’s true.” Lance chimes in, feeling prideful “We were the stars. You can say we’re experts.”

Rapunzel giggles at their excitement “Alright, I’m in.” She was clearly feeling better. “I’ve never been to a circus before.”

“Well allow us to be your guide, Captain” Lance bows playfully, similar to how they used to do in the circus together. Rapunzel giggles in response.

Flynn perked up as well. Glad to know he knew a way to cheer her up. 

~

Rapunzel hummed a tune as she, Pascal, and Cass walked through the town. Cass didn’t seem as excited as her captain but she was at least enjoying her brightness “Eugene was right. This place looks great”

Cass rolled her eyes “For a rickety old library yea.”

“Oh come on, just look at all the architecture of this place, so pristine and so...” Raps geeked out

“Raps... less history geek, more pirate captain.”

“Right... gotcha.”

~

As they entered the library they realized how big it was. The library was huge, no wonder it made the centerpiece of the entire island. Yet, no one seemed to be in it. Rapunzel wondered why. 

“Woah this place is full of books. I’m sure what we’re looking for is here. Hello!? Anyone here?” Raps called out

No response. Nothing except for a strange sound. Something that seemed to be... hammering. 

“Who would be hammering something in a library?”

Raps smirked at her “Let’s go find out.” She excitedly trails off towards the noise.

~

Cassandra reluctantly follows Raps to the sound. And the three quickly notice an odd sight. 

The figure they see had yet to notice them. It was small, and the person had a welders mask on. The two women gave each other a look before Raps spoke up. “Hello... mister...?”

He suddenly gave them a look. They couldn’t however see his expression due to the mask, and his voice seemed low because of it “What do you want?”

“Sorry sir, we were just looking for a book and we thought it’d be good to come here and... check one out.” Raps winks at Cass. They had every intention of stealing it. Cass just wished her captain didn’t make it so... obvious.

But the figure didn’t seem to notice “Well why didn’t you say so!” He takes off the welding mask and smiles at them. “Come this way.”

What the two pirates saw under the mask was the smiling face of cheery halfling boy. Not the character these two were expecting. He had long black hair with a blue stripe and a chin beard that they could also notice a bit of blue on.

Cass stared at him for a second “You’re a kid?”

“Actually madam I’m no kid. I’m a full grown... eighteen year old adult.”

“So... you’re a kid.”

Rapunzel quickly excused her friend’s bluntness “Excuse my friend. I’m Raps, and this is Pascal and that’s Cassandra.”

The halfling smiled at her “It’s a pleasure. My name is Varian, and my buddy here is Ruddiger. I am the caretaker of this sacred library. Not only am I that, I am also...” he paused for effect as he revealed his table of chemicals under a tarp “a skilled alchemist. No need to applaud.”

“I’m not” Was Cass’s response

Rapunzel however was very interested “That’s impressive.”

“Thanks.” He headed back to book section of the library. It was clear that while the library was his job, alchemy was his passion. Rapunzel could see that by the way he set up a makeshift lab in the library with the help of his little raccoon friend “So what are you looking for?”

“The Book of Azoth. I heard it was here.” Raps answers

Varian suddenly pauses, suddenly looking back to her awkwardly “Oh no. I can’t let you take that out. Sorry.”

Cass was annoyed “And why not!”

“Well, you see, I’m not allowed to. The book is sacred along with this library. It’s why I have the very special duty of guarding it. Which I do very well thanks to my alchemy.”

Rapunzel was interested “Oh really? How so?”

“I have booby traps set all around this place at night that go off if someone comes in.” He smirked proudly, excited someone was interested

“Cool! Can we see?”

“You’re really interested in seeing?”

“Um yea! That sounds awesome!” Rapunzel actually was genuinely intrigued to see. Though she also knew that she could use the information she learned from this conversation to sneak back in later and take the book herself with her crew. Or at least, that’s the excuse she planned to give to Cass, who was clearly impatient.

“Well right this way.” Varian lead them to where everything is. 

Cass stayed back a bit, she wasn’t that interested in learning. But she knew what her captain was thinking and knew she could get the info they needed. And she knew that she wouldn’t take forever. Right?

~

Three hours later

Cass groans “Raps, can we please go now!? You’ve been chatting for like three hours.”

“Just a minute, Okay Cass?”

This was followed by a sigh “Yes Captain” Cass didn’t mean to let slip the word captain, it just came out instinctively.

Varian caught on “Captain?”

Rapunzel chuckles, trying to play the mistake off “Oh nothing! Just a nickname I have.”

Varian gives her a look, and suddenly “I'm not so sure”

Calmly realizing he caught on, Rapunzel tries to calm him “We’re not here to hurt you, Varian”.

“You’re pirates aren’t you?” He backed up more, clearly shocked by the revelation that his new friends were criminals

“Okay... so YES. But not the bad kind.”

“You’re a criminal...”

Cass rolled her eyes “Captain... lets just leave before...”

Suddenly they hear a crash as several figures barged through the door. Three dwarves. One of the dwarves quickly storms up to halfling boy threateningly as he backs up into the corner 

“Get over here you little delinquent!”

“Woah woah woah, what’s going on here!?” Rapunzel interjects, trying to de-escalate the situation.

The one dwarf, clearly the leader, looks to her “This brat has made a mockery of this good town for the last time.”

“I swear... it was an accident. I didn’t mean anything by it.” Varian tries to defend himself 

“Likely story, kid.”

“Back off him!” Rapunzel quickly gets in between Varian and the the angry accusers. She gets a frying pan out, ready to defend him if needed.

The leader dwarf looks at her annoyed “Do you know who you’re defending? That kid is a menace!”

“I’ll take my chances. Now back off before I give you more reasons than just a frying pan to the head.” She suddenly throws the frying straight up, motions to her sword, and catches the frying pan in her other hand. 

“She said back off.” Was Cass’s response.

The dwarf looked back to Cass. If the sight of this half-elf wielding a sword and a frying pan wasn’t enough to scare them off, then the sight of this scary Teifling woman glaring down on them more than did the trick.

“Fine. But this isn’t over.” He said as he and the two other dwarves left

Varian was surprised “Y-you saved me.”

Rapunzel gave him a friendly and cheeky smile “That’s what friends do right?”

“You’ve known me for three hours.”

“Trust me, she’s made friends in less time.” Cass smirked a bit, knowing how true that was 

The Halfling boy blushed a bit “I’m not used to having friends. Everyone here hates me.”

“Yea, what’s up with them?”

“My alchemy. I try to use it to help them, but it always goes wrong. So I try to make up for it by making something for them but then that goes wrong.”

“You got yourself into a cycle.” Cass states

Rapunzel had heard enough “They really don’t appreciate you like they should. You shouldn’t have to deal with this.”

“What can I do? I’m supposed to keep this library safe.”

“Screw the library. Come with me, join my crew. Your skill set would really come in handy, especially with those booby traps.” It was a rash decision, but rash decisions weren’t exactly uncommon for her

Varian was hesitating “I-I can’t. The library. And you know...”

“You’re ashamed that you made friends with criminals?” Cass said bluntly 

“Cass!”

Varian blushes “No... she’s right. A bit. I just... it’s complicated.”

Raps sighs “We’ll be staying on this island for a week. If you change your mind, come find me.” She said, suddenly pretty direct. “Varian, you deserve better than what you’re given. Come with me and I can really bring out your potential. And you’ll be under my protection.” 

Without more words needing to be said she walked out, quickly followed by Cass. 

~

“Watch it! We don’t want to wake the kid.” Flynn warned Lance late that night as the two snuck into the library 

When Rapunzel and Cassandra made it to the circus they told Flynn and Lance the story of the events. The Captain told them how she saw the potential of the boy she met, and how she didn’t take the book at that moment because she would’ve felt bad taking from him. Flynn immediately offered to do the dirty work, knowing that the crew desired to obtain the knowledge in the book, but didn’t want Rapunzel to miss out on the fun of the circus. So she told him of the booby traps and he and Lance road off on Maximus and reached the library quickly. 

“Are you sure the captain knows what booby traps to look for. “

“Trust me, she does. We’ll get that book for her if it’s the last thing we do. Then we’ll make up for what we lost.” Being stubbornly loyal to his captain, Flynn was quick to blame himself for their recent loss. 

Lance however had a different theory “She’s blocking you again isn’t she?”

“Shut up!”

But he was a bit too loud as the figure on the other side of the library working on an invention happened to overhear. Varian rushes over to the booby traps and noticed the two pirates who happened to freeze when noticing the petite halfling. Varian gasped.

Flynn tried to calm him “Kid, calm down, don’t scream. We won’t be long.” He was feeling very hot. He couldn’t tell if that was the library or just the tension. 

Varian however, suddenly seemed super excited “You’re Flynn Rider!”

Flynn smirked, suddenly realizing this kid was a fan. Rapunzel definitely had an eye for making friends with good taste. “Why Yes. Yes I am. Famously dashing rogue pirate at your service.”

“Cool! I read all the books about you.”

Flynn almost forgot that he took the name from the book “Oh... well...”

Lance quickly started to giggle at that

“Wait... hold on a second, what exactly are you doing here?”

“You See that's the thing..”

“You’re on Rapunzel’s crew...” Varian quickly put the pieces together “You’re here to get the book.”

“Um... well, I...”

“That’s how you got past my booby traps. Rapunzel told you!”

“Okay yes. But she didn’t send us. We did this for her, behind her back.” He lied to him. He didn’t want the boy getting upset at her. At him, that was fine.

“But I thought she said” Lance goes to correct but Flynn elbows him 

“We’ll just be going then. We don’t need the...” Flynn was about ready to leave. He didn’t want to push past this kid in order to get it. But suddenly, he looked up. He noticed a flame on the ceiling from something and it was about to cause a section of the ceiling to fall on Varian “WATCH OUT!”

With incredible speed, Flynn quickly rushes towards Varian, grabs him, and saves him from the falling debris.

“You saved me.”

“Of course. I’m a pirate, not a heartless monster”

“What’s going on here?” Lance asked

Varian was a bit flustered “That's What I want to know.”

Just as they said that the whole room suddenly bursts into flame “oh no.”

“I’m guessing your booby traps don’t prevent fire.” Lance stated

But Varian’s panicked mind was mostly focused on one thing “THE BOOK!”

“Kid wait!” Flynn ran after him

~

Varian quickly rushes through the flame to a shelf on one side of the library. The location of the Book of Azoth. The thing Varian swore to his father he’d protect with his life, was now gone. “WHAT? No! It’s gone!” Ruddiger happened to be there as he looked up to Varian with a look of surprise and concern. Varian quickly picks him up and holds him in his arms for protection.

Flynn follows close behind “Looks like someone else was after it.”

Varian suddenly glares at him “Did you do this?”

“What? No! I wouldn’t. We wouldn’t. Not to someone who didn’t deserve it. We would never try to burn this place down.”

Varian looks down to Ruddiger and starts to run off, out of the building. He could hopefully catch the thief. “I don’t know what to believe.”

“Kid wait!” Flynn tried to call out but it was useless.

~

Varian ran outside the library, and suddenly he notices a few hooded figures walking away from the burning library. “Hey! Get back here!” He angrily rushes towards them, desperately trying to keep his promise to his father.

The figures happened to notice. However all Varian got around to doing was running a few feet towards them before one of them raised a hand towards him. Suddenly he couldn’t move. Varian was suddenly frozen and he kept struggling to move as the figures just simply kept walking off.

“Get back here!” He called out to no response. Once they were out of sight he could suddenly move but was too weak to do much else than crash to his knees. 

“There you are!” He suddenly heard a voice call. Varian turned to see the face of the dwarf from earlier. 

“Oh thank goodness you’re here”

The dwarves however didn’t seem helpful, they just grappled him, all of them giving him an angry look “Don’t think we’re falling for your lies you little shit.”

The halfling was clearly panicked. “No you don’t understand I...”

“We’ve had enough of your antics, we’re ending this tonight!”

~

Flynn rushes up to the circus on Max just as Raps and Cass we’re getting out. The girls could quickly see the urgency on his face “Blondie... we have a problem.”

“Did he catch you?”

“Yes... but we have a bigger problem.”

~

Varian was in chains, panicking. The village had brought him to a platform and allot of the angry townsfolk happened to be there. “I swear! You have the wrong person.”

“We’ve had enough of the trouble, criminal.”

“I’m not a criminal!”

As soon as he says that there is a loud bang heard causing everyone standing nearby to fall their feet due to a huge wave of thunder.

As soon as it finishes, the whole town turns to the figure of a woman getting off of horseback. Rapunzel. And she gave a glare to the people. “No... but I am.”

One of the villagers noticed her face “You... you’re Sundrop!”

“Yea... and I don’t appreciate you trying to hurt my friends so I suggest you all scram.” 

The villagers didn’t seem too threatened of the woman yet. But her glare did unnerve them a bit. Varian was realizing that this was probably the side of her that made her a pirate. And when no villagers backed down, she took an extra measure

They watched as she sprouted wings. They were incorporeal but they were big and golden, and intimidating. “I don’t suggest testing me” Allot of the meekest dwarves started to back off. But not all of them were fearful. “Fine”

As Rapunzel noticed her crew arriving she gives them a nod. Her wings fly her over to Varian as she gets in between him and the nearest dwarves. She then turns to Cass. “Go. Cass, get him out of here.”

Cass grabs Varian’s arm “Yes Captain.” She guides him off, and Varian didn’t fight it a bit. Some of the dwarves rushed off but Rapunzel was able to stall a few.

Flynn and Lance rush over to their captain, who had her frying pan out ready to fight “You realize this will only make our bounties bigger?”

Rapunzel smirks “I welcome it” a few of the guards rush towards her only to get a blow from her frying pan that gives them extra thunder damage.

~

Cass rushes Varian through the city, hoping to get to the ship before the angry mob of dwarves catch up to them. 

“They’re gaining on us.” Varian states fearfully

“Not for long, kid.” Cass suddenly takes a bet and stops in her tracks. She turns around and glares at the mob as she pulls her blade out. The villagers halted and she smirked. “You honestly think you can do anything? May the bravest of you try”

One angry dwarf did try. He pulled his axe out and swung towards her but before he could even hit Cass pulled her hand toward him and the dwarf froze, immobilized by her. Varian recalled the same thing happening to him not five minutes ago. 

The dwarf struggled but as Cass let go he just fell to the ground. A few more dwarves stepped back. Cass grabs Varian by the collar. “The kid belongs to us now. Back off.” She threatened. 

This actually happened to work. Whether it was the intimidation or the fact that the crazy halfling would no longer be their problem. They were willing to not get killed over this. 

~

As Cass brought Varian onto the ship, he suddenly collapses to the floor. He still held Ruddiger by his side and pet him in his anxiety

“You good?”

“What do I do? My whole life has just been uprooted.” He teared up

She sighed and knelt beside him “Listen kid, I know this is not what you wanna hear right now, but you’re stuck. And sometimes, the tactical thing to do is retreat. Trust me, I’ve had to do the same.”

“But...”

“Do you realize what just happened? The future queen of the pirates wants you on her crew. And you’re unsure!?”

“But... Pirate...”

“I don’t know what you thought you were doing but it’s not doing you any good. You’ve learned all you need to know from that library. And you can use that to your advantage on this ship. And for some reason the captain sees potential in you. So it’s a golden opportunity that you should absolutely take.”

Varian didn’t say anything else. He looked to the nearby stairs and sat down there, quietly sobbing. Cass felt a bit bad and sat right next to him. She patted his back a bit awkwardly. She was never very good at comforting others and Varian could notice. But after a bit and Cass stopped focusing on trying to help him, she left her hand on the small boy’s shoulder and it helped him much more than when she was actually trying.

~

It didn’t take long for the rest of the crew to show up. Raps, Flynn, and Lance quickly notice him and Raps quickly goes to comfort him “There you are, Varian.” She kneels down in front of him.

“Cass, how bad did you scare the poor boy?” Flynn looked at Cass, assuming the tears in the halflings eyes were because of her

“I didn’t!”

“No... she was fine...” he wipes his tears a bit and pets Ruddiger in his lap 

Flynn whispers to Rapunzel “You really wanna Let this kid on the PIRATE crew?”

She gave him an annoyed look back “Flynn, he just went through hell. You’d be crying too!”

“He's right though. I’m technically an adult but I’m pretty much a child. That’s why they left me there to guard that library instead of going on some cool mission somewhere. My only skill is my alchemy. And even that I mess up.”

“I don’t think so.” Rapunzel suddenly hands Varian a piece of paper from her pocket. “Can you read that?”

Varian takes a look and nods “yea. I know this language. So...?” Varian suddenly looks at the others who are looking at him in shock with the exception of Rapunzel.

“You can read that stuff?” Cass said. None of them knew what it said. They knew what it was but none of them could read it

“Yea. Alchemist’s Tongue.” Varian suddenly realizes “I mean, I know it’s rare. But I was able to study it in the library. “

“Varian, you realize that you need a very high level of intelligence to be able to learn it. That’s why it’s rare.” Rapunzel states “You’re special.”

“Even if I am, how would I be helpful to you?”

“Exactly that. That alchemy of yours, it can be weaponized.”

Cass’s eyes suddenly widen “That's actually a good idea.”

“The marines always thought it was never going to help.” Varian looks away 

“They’re wrong about you. They are ALL wrong about you. Society has been knocking you down for too long now, Varian. It’s time to fight back. Stick with me, I’ll protect you, I’ll help you grow. I’ll make sure no one ever doubts you again.” Rapunzel spoke to him with passion. Like she spoke with experience. A hard thing to ignore from someone so charismatic.

“What choice do I have? “

She sighs, “I’m not going to force you to stay. I could. But I won’t. If you say no I’ll just drop you off on the next island. But I want you to say yes because you trust me, because you believe me when I call you a friend.”

It takes a second but Varian suddenly looks to her and chuckles “You’re absolutely bonkers.” He smiles

Flynn smirks “Welcome to our world. But ain’t she charismatic?”

“Okay.” He nods “It’s not my first choice, but I’m too scared right now to be alone.”

“I’ll protect you, I promise. Welcome to the crew” Raps turns to Cass “Cass, you’re resistant to fire, gather whatever alchemy supplies you can salvage from the fire. Take Max with you. Eugene, Lance, gather up whatever supplies you can manage. We leave tonight.” She then turns to Varian “Also Cass, check with Varian, any important personal objects you can save for him, please do.”

Cass nods and Varian looks up at Rapunzel thankful “Thanks Captain”

She smiles back “I watch out for my own.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you wondering stats. (This is for the DND nerds out there) I’ll provide stats for a different character at the end of each chapter for fun.
> 
> Sundrop Rapunzel  
> Race: Half-Elf Aasimar  
> Class: Paladin (Oath of Vengeance)  
> Fighting Style: Protection  
> Age: 22  
> Alignment: CG~CN (Either works)
> 
> Ability Scores  
> STR: 17 (+3)  
> DEX: 11 (+0)  
> CON: 12 (+1)  
> INT: 17 (+3)  
> WIS: 17 (+3)  
> CHA:19 (+4)


	2. Varian’s first day.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian gets used to being on the Delinquent’s Plunder, and starts to search to find his place among Rapunzel’s crew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Few notes  
> 1) I don’t intend on keeping everything incredibly accurate to D&D. Because at the end of the day it’s not a D&D game, it’s a story inspired by it.  
> 2) On the other end, if I use any D&D terminology, in most cases I will explain it. Especially since I know a good amount of readers aren’t into D&D. This is Fantasy.

The ship of the Sunspark Pirates was called the Delinquent’s Plunder. It wasn’t the biggest ship, or at least, from what it appeared like on the outside. But as Varian explores the inside he quickly discovered that the interior held allot more than he was expecting. There were a ton of rooms. It almost felt impossible that so many rooms fit neatly in the space. And the halls were painted in beautiful designs. Some abstract, some clearly supposed to be certain figures. Mostly drawings of the other crew mates. 

It was the morning after Varian joined. Cass had managed to salvage a few of his belongings from the burning library, and he was able to at least decorate his new room with some of the salvaged chemicals and a picture of him and his dad. She even managed to save Ruddiger’s little bed that was actually made for a dog or cat, but Ruddiger used as if he were one.

But besides those things the room was mostly empty. And that nearly drove him insane. He was used to clutter. To things that would occupy his busy head that would always go much faster than people say it’s supposed to. So he explored the halls of this mansion of a ship.

He turned to Ruddiger who walked by his side “Woah, this place is so cool. I never knew so much could be held in such a small ship.”

He heard a voice from behind him “You like?” Varian jumped, a bit startled, turning around to see the smiling face of the captain he now works under. 

“Ah! Oh... captain... Hey... sorry I was just talking to Ruddiger.”

Rapunzel smiles her usual friendly smile “Oh it’s fine. And just a heads up, you don’t need to call me Captain all the time. It’s more a professional thing. When we’re just chilling, you can call me Rapunzel or Raps.”

“Oh... rely?”

She shrugged “Yea, we’re friends. No sweat it.”

“Gee, Thanks.” Varian blushed. He never expected a pirate captain to be so... humble...

“The ship’s pretty cool huh?” She sparked conversation 

“Yea totally. How’d you make the interior so big”

“We stole the ship after we killed the powerful witch who put an enchantment on it.” She answered simply, as if that didn’t say much 

“Oh...” 

“Trust me, she had it coming. Not a nice person.” She reassured him

“Oh.” Varian takes a deep breath “I’m sorry, still getting used to the whole pirate thing.”

“I understand. You just made a tough decision.” 

This whole situation was so confusing. It would’ve have been less confusing if this woman seemed cold-hearted and cruel. But that wasn’t the case. She was probably one of the sweetest people he’s ever met. So he felt he had to ask. “Have you ever killed someone who, you know, didn’t deserve it?”

Her face suddenly turns from friendly to uncomfortable. She still didn’t seem hostile, but she clearly didn’t want to say. “We... don’t need to talk about that.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Rapunzel thinks for a second “You know who you should talk to about this, Cass. She also did a similar switch.”

“Oh... thanks.” He goes to head to where he was pretty sure Cassandra’s room was.

“And Varian...”

“Yea?”

“Later tonight, come by my quarters. I have something to show you.” 

“Yes Captain”

~

Varian knocks on Cassandra’s door. Not knowing what to expect from this woman. Or if she’d even be able to help. But she did help him a decent bit the night prior. So there was a chance, even if he was nervous.

“Hello?” She answers and looks down on him “What do you want kid?”

“The Captain suggested I come talk to you. Pirate stuff.” 

Cassandra lets out a sigh, not really wanting to talk to someone at the moment, but it was clear she wanted to help somehow “come in.”

“Thanks” Varian looks around. Cassandra’s room is pretty bare. There are two swords hanging up on her wall, which he recognizes as the swords that she regularly wields in battle. And there’s a closet that appears to be closed.

She gets to business as soon as the door is closed behind him “So you’re having trouble transferring from a marine to a pirate?”

“Something like that Yea. How did you handle it? Going from good to evil.”

Cass gives a chuckle “We’re not evil, kid.” She sat down on her bed, being more in eye line with the halfling “I was a mercenary who was often assigned by marine’s to hunt down criminals. So you could say I was pretty connected to them. And I could easily see that there is no good side. The marine’s are pretty shitty, or at least allot of the people in charge are.”

“But not all of them right”

“No. At least I hope not since my dad is among them. Though I haven’t spoken to him in years.”

“Mine too.”

The Tiefling woman suddenly seemed intrigued “That why you got involved, because of him?”

“My dad quickly learned that I wasn’t exactly soldier material and assigned me to that library where I could be useful.” He knew his dad’s reasoning was also partially because he knew he would enjoy a library setting more than a battlefield 

“I see. My dad wanted me to be a soldier but, well, I’m not exactly the most obedient person.” She gave a chuckle “I don’t take kindly to authority”

“But you follow Rapunzel.”

She shrugs “I agree with her message. The whole ‘standing up for those society deems as undesirable’ thing. If I’m going to take orders from someone, I’m glad it’s her.”

“She’s noble? Everyone seems to call her a criminal.”

“Well, she is a criminal. But I like to view more as an anti-hero.”

Anti-hero. That definitely made the thought of working for her a bit better. Varian had read books about heroes who happened to be thieves and would take from the rich and corrupt and give to the poor. He hoped that that was what he was signing up for. “Thanks. I needed to hear that.”

There’s a suddenly awkward silence. Varian almost thinks about going but Cass speaks up “I do think that you’re going to fit in, even if I seemed distant at first. I don’t tend to trust people. Especially if I think they could hurt us.”

“What made you trust me?”

“I don’t.” She states bluntly “But you’re weak, so if you try anything you can be easily dealt with.” With a quick and sudden sweep of her tail she knocks him back onto the ground on his rear

He gulps “Yes ma’am.”

“Good” she gives a prideful smirk and uses her tail to help him up and to his feet.

Varian was still curious. “How did you do the thing last night where you held that dwarf in place?”

“It’s my Blood Maledict. I have some abilities too. When I was younger I went through something called the Hunter’s Bane. An alchemical concoction that changed up my blood and now I’m a different person.”

“I’ve heard of that I think. Blood Hunters, right?” The idea was simple. You grant a bit of your humanity away for power. The practice was controversial, and it made sense why. Though Varian himself always had mixed opinions on it.

“My father didn’t exactly like the idea, but...” she suddenly takes a sword from her wall and it suddenly starts to glow with electricity as she stabs it into the wall “I can do that so I can’t complain.”

Varian looks at that display in aw, amazement, and wonder “So cool!”

Cass smirks and then sits down on her bed again, now clearly invested in the conversation. It seems that flattery was the trick to getting her interested. She loved showing off how much of a badass she is. “It hurts a bit when I do that, but at this point of my life, pain really no longer hurts.”

“Wow, that’s so metal.”

“I guess so. What’s up with you and your alchemy stuff?”

“Well, I’m sure you must know at least something about it.”

“Not really. I know one alchemist, the one who gave me the hunter’s bane.” She stated “He called himself an Artificer”

“Oh. Well, I kind of am one too. I mean, I’ve always been interested in it. In trying to understand the science behind magic. I mean magic is all around us, it’s only natural that there's some kind of rhyme and reason to it, right?” When he was younger, Varian doubted the existence of magic, though that was clearly not the case. So as he grew older he became interested in trying to study and understand it. He was a bit stubborn in believing that there was some entity out there that you couldn’t explain scientifically.

“I guess so. Never really thought about it.”

“I see.”

“Any fighting skills?”

“Wish I did.”

Cass thinks for a second “I’m sure there’s something.” She gets up and opens the door to her closet, that seems to be full of weapons. Knifes, axes, scimitars. She really had a neat and orderly collection. Even some chains and things Varian didn’t recognize.

“Oh wow... you have allot...”

“I’m a collector. Allot of them taken from fallen foes, others I bought. And some Raps got for me.”

“Wow. So violent but yet so cool.”

Cass hands him a crossbow “Let’s try you out on this.”

Varian hadn’t held a crossbow much. His father had tried him on guns and other ranged weapons. But never this one. He takes it, but is clearly holding it wrong.

“No like this.” Cass says as she kneels down to him and guides his hands to where they need to be and helps him balance it. Varian couldn’t help but notice how warm she was when she guided his hand. He ignored it for a second, remembering that it’s probably a Tiefling thing. Infernal and all. But her tail also wrapped around him a bit. He didn’t know if it was instinctual for her or if she even knew that it happened. But Varian enjoyed it, almost like she had a third arm that was keeping him steady as he balanced it. 

“I think I got it”

“It’s not exactly meant for a halfling but you can definitely handle it I think. See if you can hit that target over there” she points to a target she has painted on the wall. Clearly it’s really only used for darts by her but either way, he looked, aimed and fired.

And he immediately hit the middle of the target. As if it was no effort at all.

“Woah. That was fast. Was that your first time?” She pulled back, looking down at the tiny guy, impressed.

“No. My aim was literally the only thing I happened to be good at when they were trying to train me to be a marine.”

“Thats impeccable. I’m impressed.”

“Thanks.” He smirked at her, trying to hold the crossbow and look cool for her but it’s too heavy and he falls over.

She laughed out loud “Too bad that one is meant for someone my strength. When we get to the next island, we’re definitely going to get you one of these. One that’s your size.”

Varian gets excited “Really?”

“I mean, I have to check with the captain but I’m sure she’ll approve. I am the Bosun of the ship after all. It’s my job to take care of the supplies”

“Gee, Thanks.”

“Not a problem.” She smirks and walks away a bit, her voice turning into one of a negotiator “However, I need you to do something for me in return.” 

A catch. This was a pirate he was talking to after all. “Which is?”

“Nothing hard. I need you to check on the kitchen supplies. Make sure we have enough for the journey. I need to know and I don’t want Raps knowing that I forgot.”

“How am I supposed to know how much we need?”

“Ask Lance. He can help you, and he’s surprisingly good at keeping a secret. He’s the chef so he knows how much we need. We didn’t exactly leave Hillfar with the rations prepared for an extra mouth to feed.” She said. It was clear she meant him “Even if the mouth is a small one”

“Okay got it.”

~

Varian entered the kitchen to find, as Cass stated, Lance spending some of his alone time. He hummed a soft tune as he seemed to be reading something.

Varian got a closer look and realized it was notes to a song. He had a lute by his side. It was definitely interesting how he seemed to practice in the kitchen

Each member of this crew seemed to be interesting. Like they all held a story and some interesting facts about themselves. None of them seemed like generic pirates.

“Um, Lance.”

“Oh hey buddy, what’s up?” He gave him a big smile

“What are you doing?”

“Practicing my music.” He smirks “I am a bard after all.” 

“You know magic?” Varian was suddenly interested in everything he could do

“A bit. I knew someone in an old life who taught me what I know.” He smirks proudly “And those skills became useful when I joined Rap’s crew.”

“They weren’t beforehand”

“My last captain didn’t appreciate it as much as she does.” He shrugs “Which is why me and Flynn prefer it with her.”

“You guys are really loyal huh?” 

“Very. Though Flynn, he’s the most loyal of us. When that boy is in love, he is at his love’s very  
request. It’s kind of beautiful actually. Like a classical lover from a play.” He chuckles, “I’m not as head over heels when I’m in love. But I guess we’re all different.”

“Yea. Never been so I can’t say.”

Lance ruffles his hair “Kid, with us, you can see the whole land and I’m sure there are plenty of girls who’d fall for you. I mean, I’ve had plenty of experiences since becoming a pirate.”

“Oh. And none of them like Flynn’s?”

“Only one. But you really only experience true love once. And that’s gone for me.”

“Oh... sorry...”

“Hey, I’m living my best life, so at least I have that. Despite what demons are in my past. I’m a happy man now because I still have the love of my friends.”

“I... I never really had that. Just my dad and Ruddiger really.”

“Well, hopefully we can fix that.” He smiles

Varian feels so awkward suddenly and it makes him think about the task at hand. “Oh yea. Can I check the food rations? Cass asked me to check.”

Lance chuckles “So she forgot again huh?”

“That happen often? “

“No. But enough that it’s noticeable.” He goes into the storage room and notices “Oh boy...”

“What?”

“Looks like we have a reason to worry. I’m not so sure we have the rations for two extra mouths. Even if their just a halfling and a raccoon.”

“Ruddiger will literally eat garbage so I don’t think that’s a problem.”

“Still. You might want to alert the captain.”

He wanted to but didn’t want to get Cass in trouble “But Cass...”

“Tell her that Cass told you to tell her. That she already knew.” Lance winked “The captain won’t notice if she’s not looking.”

“Oh... good point.”

“I’m a MASTER of deception.”

~

As Varian searches, he couldn’t find the captain, that was until he went to the deck and looked up. She was in the Crow’s Nest, facing her Quartermaster, Pascal, in a game of chess

“Um... captain?” He called up to her

Rapunzel looks down curiously to see Varian. “Coming!” She climbs down with speed and lands right by him “Yea? What’s up Varian?”

“Cass sent me up here, she needs you to know that we’re running low on rations.”

“I see.” She sighs “Okay, then we’re going to have to get them another way.” Raps looks to the ocean and immediately notices a ship nearby. It doesn’t look like a marine ship or a pirate ship. Just a normal ship. “And I know just how to do that.”

Varian took a good look at the smirk on her face. Kind of devious, but not exactly evil. He had heard of how Pirates often raid other ships while on the seas, stealing from them, often killing those who attempted anything funny. 

“Wait... Are you going to...?”

She suddenly looks back to him, remembering how new he is and how this is his first day. “You don’t have to come. I understand if you’re not ready.”

~

Varian stayed around as their ship stopped right next to this ship. The other ship quickly realized the situation they were in and that it’d be smarter to comply with the infamous pirate’s demands rather than running. 

Flynn and Maximus were the two who were preparing to board. Varian took a curious look from them to the chameleon on Rapunzel’s shoulder “Isn’t it usually the Quartermaster’s job to do this work.” 

“Yea, but not many people are going to be intimidated by a frog.” Flynn answers. Pascal sticks his tongue out at him. Flynn turns to Raps “We good captain?”

“Yep. Don’t scare them TOO much, Okay?” 

Suddenly Varian finds his shirt being tugged on by Max. The horse was clearly trying to tell him something. “What is it?”

“I think he’s saying you should come with us.” Eugene translates and Max nods

“You don’t have to.” Rapunzel quickly says 

“No... it’s okay I’ll go.” He took a deep breath. The horse seemed to be very intelligent for an animal. Somehow he felt like he should trust him. Even if he was nervous.

“Alright kid, I’ll show you the ropes.” Flynn smirks

~

As the four of them board the other ship they find a few of the sailors on the deck, clearly nervous for their arrival. Varian assumed that the crew of this ship wasn’t so big, so maybe this was all they had. But those that were there were indeed surprised by why the halfling and the horse happened to board. The halfling didn’t seem that threatening and the horse, well is a horse.

“What a bright welcome.” Flynn smiles wide as he saw all the sailors being hospitable “Hello, you probably know me as Flynn Rider of the Sunspark Pirates. These are my associates Maximus and Varian.”

One sailor, clearly the leader, spoke up “Please, What do you want from us?” He was clearly aware he was speaking to a Pirate. His expression was pretty readable. He probably had some bad experiences with their kind before.

“This transaction will hopefully be a simple one. We need some food for the journey and we were hoping to get some from you.” Flynn states as the sailors suddenly look away awkwardly “Of course, you won’t leave empty handed. My captain is a reasonable woman. She doesn’t want to take all your rations and leave you to die. We’re not monsters. So, if you happen to have any sick or injured, our captain is a healer and she can come aboard to heal any of them.”

“So it’s like a forced trade.”

“Exactly”

There was another awkward silence before the sailor spoke back up again “I’m afraid we can’t. While we actually have a few sailors sick, the fact of the matter is, the reason their sick is because all of our food went bad and we barely have enough rations to make the journey. And our captain is sick too, so I had to take over, since I’m her first mate.”

Flynn suddenly stops his cocky demeanor. Suddenly changing to one to understanding. “I understand. I’m sorry to disturb your time. We’ll leave now.”

Flynn turned around, planning to head back to the ship. Varian was surprised how he just turned around like that. He wasn’t going to rob these people of what they needed to survive. And he offered them health and care. Even if in a very pirate like demeanor. 

But then Varian remember months back. The villagers of Hillfar had a similar problem and he tried to help out. His alchemical concoction didn’t work back then but since then he had fixed it. And he was pretty sure Cass salvaged the correct ingredients “Wait... I can help...”

Flynn turned around “Oh?”

“Some of the chemicals Cass managed to salvage from my lab. I can mix a concoction that can purify food and water.”

The sailor was surprised but sighed “I don’t think that’ll work. Our rations have rot a good amount.”

Varian went up and looked up at him “Sir, I’m an alchemist. I study the properties and science of magic. My concoction should be able to work.”

Flynn shrugged “What do you have to lose? That food is just getting thrown to the curb anyway.”

“Sure... we can try.”

~

Varian arrived back a few minutes later with some chemicals from his room. “Okay, I got it.” His hands were full and he was still mixing the concoction

The sailor nods “I’ll take you.” He says as he leads Varian into the interior. Max was quick behind. 

Flynn gives a good look to Raps who’s waiting on the boat, giving her the signal to come aboard. She smirks and uses her incorporeal wings to glide down to the other, smaller ship, clearly trying to make a show. She smirks at the sailors looking at her wings with awe. “Why thank you.” She then looks to Flynn “They’re not giving you trouble are they?”

“No. In fact, the first mate of this vessel just lead Varian and Max to the storage room.”

“Varian? Oh rely?” She was surprised how quickly he was taking initiative

“Their food supply is low and he apparently has a science-y potion thing to purify their food that is rotten.”

“So it’s a yes to the deal then?”

“Seems like it.”

She nods “I’ll go check up on him.” She heads off down below to follow Varian.

~

The first mate took Varian to one of the storage rooms. “Here it is.” The room is full of crates of rotten food. The stench is awful.

“Okay... let's see what I can do.” He continues to mix his concoction

“Kid, can I ask you something?” 

“Yea sure.”

“I don’t remember hearing that Sundrop Rapunzel had a halfling on her crew.”

“It’s my first day.” Varian answered awkwardly

“Why are you traveling with them”

Rapunzel suddenly arrives as they are talking. She heard the last phrase of the conversation and she hid behind a wall. Max happened to notice her but didn’t alert the others.

“Mostly because I have to.” Varian admits “But, I mean, the Captain is nice. At least, from what I’ve seen. It’s very conflicting.”

“Sundrop Rapunzel Huh? The stories I heard of her tell otherwise.”

“I’ve heard those stories too. But she’s nice to me. But she also seems rather mysterious. I really hope I made the right choice by joining.”

“Just watch yourself. You’re hanging around dangerous people. Pirates aren’t exactly the best people, I’ve had some rotten experiences with them.”

“I mean, it’s not like I trust them, but I don’t believe they’re bad people.” He admits “But I mean, I understand your experiences aren’t as favorable as mine.”

“I understand. I mean her being nice must be conflicting.”

“Yea, it is. But I mean, it definitely makes me like her more. I just... don’t trust her.” He finishes mixing the concoction “Okay... got it.” He suddenly puts the concoction he made onto his hands, a light blue powder. He blows on it and it fills the room. And magically all the food that is seen starts to look ripe and delicious. Rapunzel quickly recognizes this as the Purify Food and Water Spell, even if it isn’t done in the same way she’s seen it done before.

“Wow, you did it!”

Rapunzel couldn’t help but show herself. She she made it look like she just arrived. “Varian, that was amazing.”

Varian jumped a bit, spooked “Captain?”

“I didn’t realize you could do magic.”

“I mean, not in your typical sense.”

“Nevertheless, it’s really amazing.”

The sailor gave the pirate a bit of a suspicious look “How much do you plan on taking?”

“Only a little. We have some rations but not enough to feed the extra mouth we didn’t exactly stock for.” She admits to him. Trying to not seem so hostile.

The sailor looks to Varian and then back to Rapunzel “Take what you need. You’re doing us a huge favor here, and you could’ve have just killed us or let us die of starvation. Like most pirates would.”

She was unsure if most pirates would have or not. Or if she just happened to be a rare breed. But she didn’t need to harp on it. “Thank you. This won’t be forgotten. Do you have any sick?”

“Yes, our captain and some others are sick. Down the hall to the left.”

“I’m on it!” She heads off, Max following right behind her

“Thank you.” Varian smiles at the man

“It was a pleasure to meet you. I wish you well”

“And to you as well. What was your name, by the way?”

“John.”

~

As Max walks by Rapunzel’s side he nuzzles close to her, getting her arm around him, trying to make her smile.

And she did, and she quickly realized Max knew she was there. “It’s okay Max. You and Cass went through the same thing. He’ll warm up to me in time.”

Raps soon finds herself arriving at the sick ward and runs to the person who is clearly the captain since she happens to have a hat next to her bed. “Hi... I know you don’t know me. But I’m Rapunzel. I’m here to heal you.”

The Captain looks up to her weakly “No... not me...” she points to one of the other sailors. The only one that seemed to be passed out from sickness “My little brother, he’s the sickest of us. Him first.”

Rapunzel respected that. Putting the well-being of her sickest crew member above herself. She nods and grants her wish, casting lay on hands, healing him. 

The boy suddenly wakes up. “Wha?”

She quickly tries to calm him “Hey Hey, it’s okay. You’re better now. What’s your name?”

“M-Michael...”

“Michael Huh? It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Rapunzel.”

Michael immediately turns to the captain “My sister.”

“Don’t worry, I have plenty to go around.” Raps smiles and heals her too.

“Thank you...”

“It’s no problem.” She starts to do the others

Michael immediately goes to his sister’s side “Wendy, are you okay?”

Wendy nods “I’m fine. You needed it far more than I did.” She suddenly turns to Raps “You’re Sundrop Rapunzel, aren’t you?”

She smirks “The one and only.”

“And you’re healing us?”

“Admittedly it was apart of the deal I made with your first mate.”

“John... my brother.”

Rapunzel smiles wide at that “Awww. Siblings traveling together. That’s cute.”

“We’re researchers.”

“Researchers Huh? That sounds fun. What do you study?”

Wendy took a breath, deciding to tell this woman. Even if she didn’t trust her. “The planes. And traveling through them.”

“Oh so like Feywild stuff.”

“That's one of them, Yea.”

“Ever been to one?”

“Yea. A few. But we need more work before we’re ready to get really dangerous.”

“No kidding.” She chuckled

“Why are you helping us exactly?” Wendy was still clearly suspicious 

“Unlike most pirates I rather dislike just taking things. So when I can, I like to do some good for the people I take from.” She had just finished healing everyone and turned to her

“You’re raiding us, got it.” Wendy took a deep breath. Clearly annoyed but conflicted.

“You wanna stop me?” Raps giggles and stands up “Here, I’ll give you a free shot.”

“Nono. I’m good.” Wendy said very quickly. Despite the raiding she was thankful to have her ship up and running again “I’m sorry my experiences with pirates haven’t been so pleasant, I’m skeptical.”

“Understandable. I tend to have that effect on people.”

Michael chimes in “What effect?”

“People can’t tell whether to be afraid of me or not?”

“What do you prefer?” He asks again

“You shouldn’t be afraid of me, unless you’re my enemy. Then you should be VERY afraid.” She giggles 

“You’re very kind for a pirate.” Wendy states

“Yea. Guess I am.”

“Well, either way, thank you. I hope my brother didn’t give you any trouble.”

“Not at all. Very cooperative. And I can assure you, we didn’t take much.”

Wendy sighs “it’s alright. I’m just glad we’re not dead.”

“That's the spirit!”

~

Later that night Varian goes over to the captain’s quarters. He takes a very big breath and knocks on the door. She quickly answers.

“You wanted to see me Captain?”

“There you are, come in!” She excitedly pulls him in “this isn’t formal, by the way. This is more of a friend thing.”

“Oh.”

“I know this whole situation has you stressed, so I thought, maybe we could try something fun.”

“How So?”

She motions to two paint boards she set up with paint brushes “Painting! I saw some of your drawings in your lab and thought maybe you’d like to try.”

Varian smiles softly “That’s really thoughtful.”

“It’s rare that I find someone else who enjoys art the way I do. Heck, all the paintings on the walls of the ship was all me. So I thought it’d be fun to have a friend to do it with.”

“I mean, my interest in it started with me drawing things for inventions but that ended up changing soon. Plus, I guess science can be an art sometimes too.”

“I mean the way you do it seems very crafty to me. Like how you were able to make that concoction to help those folks. The way you lit up the room with magic. If that’s not art, color me blind then.”

“Yea... I guess”

She could clearly sense his hesitation about that and softened her voice “You Okay after all that?”

Varian was unsure if he wanted to tell her. But he had the feeling she didn’t become as successful as she is by falling for people’s lies. So he told the truth. “I don’t know. I mean, I probably saved some people’s lives today, but we also stole from them. I feel...”

“Conflicted” The word she heard him say. The word she’s heard people use a lot when talking about her.

“Yea.”

“I feel that way allot.” She admits

“You do?”

“My goal has always been to protect those who can’t defend themselves. I know the way I do it seems very wrong in the eyes of most common folk. But I like to believe I do a lot of good.”

“You’re a Pirate.”

“Yea... I also do a lot of bad.” She chuckles awkwardly “But I think the good outweighs it though.”

“That's definitely optimistic of you.”

She smirks “Yea. I’m a ray of sunshine. Or so they tell me.”

Varian wished he could understand better “You fight against society.”

“Yea. I’ll probably explain at some point but for now, you need to think of something not so heavy. You had a big day, huh my little Sniper?”

“Huh? Sniper?”

“Cass told me your skills with a crossbow. And we don’t exactly have a Master Gunner to handle the cannons and such. They've been collecting dust for a while now. I figured that’d you could be really good for long ranged fighting. Since you’re clearly not a melee fighter.” She pokes him teasingly

“Yea... sure... um, I’m going to have to man them?”

“Maybe. Hopefully not anytime soon.”

“Sorry, still hesitant to this whole thing.”

Rapunzel sighs “I know it’s going to be hard for you to trust us. But in due time, you’ll have all your questions answered”

“Why Not now?”

“Because that’s allot of stuff to put on you, and I don’t think we exactly trust each other yet.”

Varian wanted to say he did but that’d be an easy lie to spot. “Thats fair.”

“We’re going to reach the next island in a day or two, we’ll buy you supplies for your alchemy then. But for now, let’s just enjoy the time waiting.”

Varian looked at her, she made a point. And right now, he could definitely use some insurance that he truly had a friend in her “Pass me the brush?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (For the D&D Nerds our there.)
> 
> Mad Alchemist Varian  
> Race: Lightfoot Halfling  
> Class: Artificer (Alchemist)  
> Age: 18  
> Alignment: LG (currently)  
> Ability Scores  
> STR: 8 (-1)  
> DEX: 17 (+3)  
> CON: 14 (+2)  
> INT: 18 (+4)  
> WIS: 12 (+1)  
> CHA: 10 (+0)
> 
> And bonus
> 
> Cutthroat Cassandra  
> Race: Tiefling  
> Class: Blood Hunter (Order of the Profane Soul)  
> Age: 26  
> Alignment: N  
> Ability Scores  
> STR: 18 (+4)  
> DEX: 14 (+2)  
> CON: 17 (+3)  
> INT: 11 (+0)  
> WIS: 14 (+2)  
> CHA: 12 (+1)


	3. The Mad Alchemist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sunspark crew land on the next island. Cassandra and Varian make a discovery while buying supplies for alchemy. Rapunzel reclaims what is hers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This opening arc continues.

“Rise and shine!” Lance yelled as he woke Varian up. 

“Ah!” He suddenly jolts awake, causing Ruddiger, who was sleeping by his legs like a cat, to be thrown off the bed “What the?”

“We’re about to dock.”

“Did you have to jolt me awake like that?”

“No, but it’s fun.” He chuckles

Varian groans “Do I always have to wake up this early.” He hadn’t had to the last couple days he’s been on the ship, but he hoped that that wasn’t a common occurrence

“Not a morning person huh?”

“Not in the slightest.”

“Well get dressed, we’re going to get you those alchemist supplies you want.” Lance states before quickly heading off to the deck

“Oh good.” Varian got up. But he suddenly realized that Lance dodged his question.

~

“There you are Varian! You almost missed the ship meeting.” Raps smiles at him as he got into deck. Lance had made him a cup of coffee, which he was thankful for.

“Morning, Captain.”

“We we’re just about to discuss the plan for our stay on the island.” She smiled. He was the last of the crew to make it to the meeting. He’d have to get better at that. 

“Which is?”

“Well, first we usually need to make sure any wanted posters of us are taken down. Usually only marines or bounty hunters are the only people who’ll mess with us as long as we’re not causing trouble, but it’s insurance.”

“Understood.”

Cass chimes in “We need to get supplies for him too. Weapons and supplies for his magic.” 

“I mean, technically alchemy but yea.” He corrects 

Raps nods and turns to him “And I mean, if we can pick up things for you to decorate your quarters, that could be arranged.” She turns back to Cass “right Bosun?”

“Yea... sure.”

Raps states the game plan “Okay. Cass, you take Varian to go get his supplies. Take Pascal and Ruddiger with you. You need the Quartermaster there to make sure you don’t spend too much. Eugene, you take Max and you two make sure the posters are ripped off. Me and Lance will take care of settling us into the inn.”

“We’re not staying on the ship?” Varian asks 

“The Inn is closer to where the booze are.” Lance chuckles

“Oh... I see.”

“Sounds good to me.” Cass states “Come on, kid.”

~

Cass leads Varian to the weapons shop on the island. Followed closely by Pascal and Ruddiger. The salesman at the counter was quickly interested in the two humanoid figures who entered “Why Hello, What can I do for you two?”

“Yea, we’re looking for a crossbow.” Cass states

The man looks down to Varian, a rather cute halfling, and then to Cass, a scary looking Tiefling. “For you or for the halfling?”

Cass sneakily winks at Varian and then looks to the man all offended “Oh so you’re judging him because he’s a halfling. You think he can’t fight?”

The salesman was quickly on guard “N-no that’s what I meant.”

“Wow... that’s really hurtful.” Varian plays along

“I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to offend I just...”

Even Pascal gives him a judgmental look

“Hey, come on I didn’t mean it like that”

“Then I guess we’ll just take our gold and platinum somewhere else.” Cass turns around to start to walk off

“No wait! I’ll throw in a discount if you stay. I recognize you from the wanted posters and I make a decent amount of money from pirate clientele.” He states 

“Now that’s more like it.” Cass grimaces wide “The Sunspark crew is grateful.”

“A crossbow you said. I have some fine options, just give me a second.”

As the man turns to go find it and away from them, Cass playfully nudges Varian “Way to play along.”

“Thanks. I’m surprised you guys have that level of notoriety.”

“It’s a blessing and a curse. But in sketchy places like this, it really comes in handy to have a reputation.”

“I see.” 

The salesman comes out and hands him a crossbow. Smaller than Cass’s that he held the other day, but still rather big. “Woah.” He almost trips but Cass holds him steady with her tail. “You got anything smaller?”

“Not unless you’d prefer a slingshot.” The man rolls his eyes a bit

“Actually... Yea...”

~

Apparently buying the cheap slingshot was the right move. Because when then went to the shop to get supplies for his alchemy, they had more money available and he was able to get a good amount. 

Cass smiled at how excited Varian was as he held two of three bags from shopping. He couldn’t hold all three, so she held the heaviest one. Which was like nothing to her. 

“Thanks a bunch, I can’t wait to get started on all the...” all the excitement is his expression turned into shock as he noticed a poster on a nearby wall “oh god”

“Shit, it looks like Rider missed one.”

Varian went closer. It was a picture that was clearly supposed to be him. It said “Mad Alchemist Varian: Wanted Alive”. 

“Mad? That’s what they think of me?” He teared up a bit. Years of trying to help his village and all they saw him as was some kind of deranged mad scientist.

“Yea, pretty crazy. Plus it doesn’t look like you at all. Way too intimidating.”

His voice was shaking “They thought I was crazy. They thought I was some kind of monster.”

Cass shrugs “Yea, people suck. They hate on the things they don’t understand. Don’t sweat it.”

“Don’t sweat it? You don’t know what it’s like to be surrounded by people who all hate you. It sucks.” He said, getting annoyed at how calm she was seeming about this. 

Cass however suddenly gave him an annoyed look “Oh rely? I don’t?” She points to her horns, then her tail.

He immediately realized his mistake “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. I was being stupid.”

“It’s fine. I’ve had enough of it in my life that it doesn’t sting as much anymore. It’s the mark of my kind, to be misunderstood. I don’t have the luxury of being a cute little halfling.”

“I’m sorry.” He looked down “If it makes you feel any better I think you’re beautiful.”

“Thanks” She rips his poster off the wall and it suddenly turns to blue flame in her hand. “Screw what they think of us. We make our own fate, not them.”

“Yea... you’re right.”

She ruffles his hair a bit “Let’s go to the inn. We need alcohol.”

~  
As Cass and Varian strive to the inn with Pascal and Ruddiger, Raps and Lance immediately spot them. The two were waiting right outside of the door for them. “There you guys are.” Pascal quickly hops back onto his place on her shoulder.

“They’re getting a lot faster with the wanted posters nowadays.” Cass comments

“You’re kidding.” Raps looks to Varian “You have one don’t you?” And Varian nods shyly.

It was just then that Flynn arrived on Max’s back “it was the strangest thing too. His said ‘Wanted Alive’ and not ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ like the rest of ours.”

“That’s odd. You must really be needed, Varian.” Raps states, she was pretty certain she knew exactly why

“I’d rather not talk about it.”

She quickly puts her hand on his shoulder “I can get that. How about we buy you a drink?”

~

They all found themselves doing different things in the inns tavern that night. But Varian just sat at the table having a drink. And eventually Rapunzel noticed and went to check up on him “Hey, how are you doing?”

“Could be better.”

“Yea. Guess not everyone is so excited about having a wanted poster as I was.” 

“You really hate the empire don’t you?” Varian points out 

“Trust me, Varian, if you knew the things I know, you would too.” She states 

“Why? Aren’t you a fan of this whole place?” Varian asks. He knew Ellastraya was often remarked as being an adventurers paradise. And the Chinarian Empire was the colonizing force of the whole continent. The reason why humanoid civilizations even existed in the land.

“I love Ellastraya. It’s the empire that I despise”

“Are you sure you should be talking about that here? In public?”

“I’m a pirate. I’m not in any more danger if I say it or not.”

“I see.”

Rapunzel puts a comforting hand on his shoulder “Hey, I know you’re still upset about the poster, but I promised you that I’d protect you, and I never break a promise.” 

“Oh rely?”

“I made an Oath when I became a Paladin, and that was part of it.” She smiles at him but it goes away when she notices something “Oh boy.”

“What?”

She motions to two half-orcs who were walking right past the tavern “Those two redheaded half-orcs over there. Those are the Stabbingtons.”

“Enemies of yours?”

“They work for a rival.” He could see Rapunzel grit her teeth angrily. She suddenly gets up from her seat. “Which means she’s here.”

“Oh... well maybe I’ll get to use my new slingshot.” Varian smiles 

She suddenly pauses “not yet” she looks over to Lance who happens to be gambling nearby. “Lance!”

Lance immediately stops what he’s doing and reports “Captain?”

“Take Varian up to our room. Caine is here, and i have a score to settle.”

Varian looked up to her with a bit of disappointment “I can’t come with?”

“It’s too dangerous for you right now. You’re not ready. And she’s very dangerous.”

“Not if I stay away and I just act as your sniper. I want to help.”

“I appreciate that. But I want to keep you protected.”

Lance looks to Varian “Come on bud. Let’s get you upstairs.”

“But maybe I can help...” he gets up but he’s a bit wobbly

Lance helps him keep steady “Yea no. You’re a lightweight. Even if you were ready we can’t let you go like this.”

“Make sure he’s safe. Me, Flynn, Cass, and Max can handle them.” Rapunzel orders

~

Varian paces across the room. Unsure why he wants to put himself into danger for them. He wouldn’t have done that a week ago but now their his friends. And he couldn’t help but feel he wasn’t doing enough

“You know, they can handle themselves.” Lance states

“I know, it’s just... I wanna contribute more.”

“Take it from the bard of the group, you don’t need to be on the frontline the whole time. Being support is just fine.”

“I’m still curious.”

Lance suddenly smirks after checking out Varian’s eyes. Noticing that the haziness is gone “Hmm. I might get in trouble for this, but maybe I can sneak you to the docks so you can watch?”

“Rely?”

“If I do, you have to not tell the captain. Got it?” 

Varian nods quickly “Yea of course. How do you know it’s going to be on the docks.”

“Because I know what Rapunzel is after”

~

Rapunzel, Cassandra, Maximus, and Flynn sneak to Lady Caine’s ship in the dead of night. It seems that her crew happened to be staying in an inn like theirs were. But Caine’s horse, Axel, was indeed guarding the ship.

Raps turns to Max “you know what to do”

Maximus nods and quickly rushes off, darting directly past Axel. Axel, who recognizes the other horse as his nemesis, quickly rushes after. Leaving the ship unguarded.

Raps then looks to Flynn and nods. And Flynn heads off.

~

The Rogue slips through behind the boxes. He quickly makes it to the Captain’s Quarters and heads inside. But he quickly notices inside are two redheaded half-orcs grinning at him. And he quickly gets himself punched out to the main deck. 

“Ouch.” He groans 

“It’s been a while, Rider.” One of the stabbingtons smirks at him. 

“Well, well, Well” Flynn looked up and suddenly notice Lady Caine grinning down at him from the poop deck “If it isn’t Sundrop’s little lackey.” She walked down from the poop deck as The Stabbingtons quickly grappled him “Where is the winged bitch anyway?” She went right up to them, and Flynn noticed the locket around Caine’s neck. Rapunzel’s.

Flynn doesn’t answer. He just smirks. “Now!”

Suddenly one of the Stabbingtons is hit with an Eldritch Blast from Cass who had just stormed on. This quickly caused him to recoil and let go of his grip on Flynn. And Flynn takes the chance to rip the locket off of Caine’s neck. He immediately slips out of the others hand due to the surprise

“Where’s Sundrop!” Caine suddenly yells in frustration 

“You wanted me?” Lady Caine looks back up to the poop deck to notice Rapunzel standing on top it, haven just flown into it and her wings are still out. 

Flynn lifts the locket and shows it to Raps “This is Why rogues rule!”

Caine grits her teeth “Alright boys, you know what to do.” And as she says this both Stabbingtons suddenly let their anger get the better of them as they go into a rage.

“You two take them, I’ll take on Caine”

Caine smirked and had already made it back onto the poop deck “I knew it was about time you’d come for the locket. I hoped I’d be able to finally finish you off.”

“Funny. I was thinking the same thing about you.” Raps pulls out her sword instead of her frying pan. Suddenly she begins to glow and as the glow dissipates she is adorned in pink armor and her sword is glowing radiant energy. 

“What, no Frying Pan?”

Rapunzel glares at her “This isn’t me having fun.”

~

Meanwhile Varian and Lance are watching from the sidelines “Woah what the...?”

“That's her holy armor. This is why she mostly fights with a frying pan. Because THAT’S what her sword does.”

“Holy shit. So she was holding back against the villagers in Hillfar?”

“She doesn’t use that sword often.” He explains “The two of them have had this rivalry from the beginning of her career.”

“Oh really? Why do they hate each other so much?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure Lady Caine hates Raps because she always beats her to the punch. A bit of envy and ego. But Raps, my personal theory is that Lady Caine represents everything Rapunzel doesn’t want to be as a pirate.”

“Which is?”

“The kind of person who takes advantage of those she’s weaker then. Raps is all about protecting those people.” He answers

“Then why be a pirate?” The age old question at this point

“That is complicated, little buddy. You’ll learn soon enough.” 

~

As Cass is fighting one of the Stabbingtons, their strength increased due to their rage. Which Cass doesn’t seem to be having a hard time with. But Flynn who relies more on his dexterity is having a bit of trouble. 

“Ryder!” Cass suddenly looks to the one Flynn is fighting and casts a spell that seems to invest him with a curse. A Hex. And it significantly decreases his strength. 

“Thanks.”

Raps clashes with Caine on the Poop Deck as the two exchange blows. Raps uses a spell, Searing Smite and suddenly her sword flares with fire and she delivers a strike against her that hits and as soon as the strike hits, her opponent has erupted in flames. 

“Ah!” Lady Caine attempts to keep attacking but the flames are too much and she suddenly disengages, and takes a jump overboard into the water.

The stabbingtons notice this “Captain!”

Flynn laughs “Haha! That’s our girl!”

Lady Caine pops out of the water, burned but alive. “You bitch I swear I’ll...”

Raps couldn’t hear her because she was focused on something else. She suddenly destroys the helm of the ship with a slash of her sword. And then jumps down to the main deck where the Stabbingtons are fighting her friends. The Stabbingtons immediately focus their attention on her but neither attack hits and she hits both of them with one slice of her sword, using Wrathful Smite. And they are pushed back. 

As they get up they look to her as she glares down at them and the two of them are immediately frightened of her and they also run off the ship. 

“Yea that’s right, you better run!” Flynn shouts at them 

“Raps, them being afraid, that was from your magic right?” Cass asks

“Yea...” Rapunzel answers while looking darkly at the mainmast “Get off the ship. Make sure Caine and the brothers don’t get back on.” 

“What? Why?”

“Just do it.”

Cass and Flynn immediately do so. Rap’s sword glows with Divine Energy and with one slash she cuts down the mainmast of the ship and then uses her incorporeal wings to fly into the air as the mainmast crashes into the ship, causing a wreckage. 

She then flies right next to Flynn and Cass as Caine and the Stabbingtons make it out of the water. 

“My ship! How dare you!”

She doesn’t hey much else out because Rapunzel suddenly uses her wings and flies directly towards her and pushes her into a wall with her sword to her neck, glowing radiant energy.

“If you steal from me again, you will not live to do it again.” Rapunzel knocks Lady Caine out and then looks to the Stabbingtons who are watching “Boo.”

Still affected by the spell, the Stabbingtons make a run for it. Once their gone Raps turns back to her friends, and her form, wings and pink armor, suddenly disappear and she’s back to her smiling self.

“So did you get it?”

Flynn nods “Yea Blondie, I got it.” He tosses her the locket he picked off of Lady Caine “That was intense.”

“Yea. Maybe I went a little hard. But boy did that feel good.” She giggles

“You can truly be scary sometimes, Raps.”

“Why thank you.”

~

Raps, Flynn, Max and Cass get back to the inn and see Varian and Lance. Lance is smiling like nothing happened. And Raps smiles happily. “Hey boys, hope you two didn’t get into too much trouble while I was gone.”

“Not at all, Captain. Nothing happened at all.” Lance smiles

“Perfect! Lance, do you mind if I talk to Varian for a bit?”

“Oh. Sure.”

“Challenge you to a game of chance?” Flynn smirks at him

“Yea sure. Cass you in?”

“Okay but no cheating this time”

Flynn and Lance say at the exact same time “No promises.” And the three of them head off

Raps was quick to speak “Lance snuck you out didn’t he?”

“What!? No!”

“Varian, it’s okay, I expected him too. Had I wanted you to actually stay here I would’ve put Max in charge. The two humans and the Tiefling would no doubt have snuck you out. They have a tendency to break the rules.”

“Oh.”

She sat next to him “I wanted you to see it, but I didn’t want you getting involved. And you didn’t.”

“Touché. You went really intense back there.”

“Well, I am a pirate after all.” She chuckled 

“I guess so.”

“Come with me, I wanna show you something.”

~

Raps takes Varian to the dock where the Delinquent’s Plunder is. “Why are we here?”

Rapunzel smirks “I wanted to show you this?” She takes out the locket that she just got back. “This is what she stole from me.”

“A locket?”

Raps opens the locket and the picture inside is of a baby girl with golden hair. 

“Is that?”

She answers “Me. This is the only possession I have of either of my parents. It belonged to my mother.” She puts it back on her neck

“What happened to them?”

“Hell if I know. I’ve never met them. But I did meet my aunt. And she told me about them.”

“What did she tell you?”

“That my parents were adventurers that traveled the sea, righting the wrongs of the world. They’re the reason I’m a Paladin. It’s their morals, their crusade, that I find myself on today.” She looked to the ship, finding herself rambling a bit. 

“Why are you telling me this?”

She turns back to him with a smile “I think any chance to show you something about myself is a good opportunity. I want you to trust me, Varian. And I want to trust you.”

“And you don’t yet?”

“No. But in time. I clearly like you allot.”

“I see.”

She suddenly smirks excitedly at him “Wanna see something else cool that this thing can do.”

He smirked back “Yea, I would.”

Raps suddenly holds on to the necklace, speaks a few words in Celestial and suddenly the ship is surrounded by a mist and it shrinks down and is magically sucked into the locket.

“Woah!”

“The expanded interior is not the only thing I got from that witch.” She smirks pridefully 

“Are you ever going to tell me that story? 

“Maybe someday.” She ruffles his hair”

~

Lady Caine finds herself in a bar with the Stabbingtons. She has a big burn mark on her face now and the Stabbingtons are also clearly irritated. They are suddenly confronted by a figure. A small one, but one that still seemed intimidating.

“I hear you’re looking for passage away from this island.”

She gave him a look, one of annoyance “Yea. I need to get stronger. Need to be strong enough to kill a certain enemy.”

“I know that feeling” he chuckled “That enemy of yours doesn’t happen to be a certain Paladin Pirate, does it?”

“What the? Who the hell are you?”

The man placed his hooked hand on the table, “You probably have heard of me, the name is Hook. And I believe we could form an alliance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few more
> 
> Flynn Rider  
> Race: Human  
> Class: Rogue (Thief)  
> Age: 26  
> Alignment: CN  
> Ability Scores  
> STR: 16 (+3)  
> DEX: 18 (+4)  
> CON: 12 (+1)  
> INT: 16 (+3)  
> WIS: 10 (+0)  
> CHA: 16 (+3)  
> ~
> 
> Lance Strongbow  
> Race: Human  
> Class: Bard (College of Whispers)  
> Age: 26  
> Alignment: CN  
> Ability Scores  
> STR: 17 (+3)  
> DEX: 17 (+3)  
> CON: 15 (+2)  
> INT: 11 (+0)  
> WIS: 9 (-1)  
> CHA: 18 (+4)
> 
> ~  
> And lastly
> 
> Maximus  
> Race: Horse  
> Class: Fighter 5 (Champion)  
> Alignment: LG  
> Fighting Style: Defense  
> Ability Scores  
> STR: 18 (+4)  
> DEX: 18 (+4)  
> CON: 16 (+3)  
> INT: 14 (+2)  
> WIS: 11 (+0)  
> CHA: 14 (+2)


	4. The Water Genasi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian meets a strange woman who appears to not be so friendly to him. The Sunspark crew hold an old enemy hostage and Raps and Varian come up with a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m gonna have a BUNCH of Disney characters in this story. And two more are introduced in this chapter. 
> 
> I won’t say much else, except, you’re welcome.

Varian awoke the next morning before the others as he and Ruddiger went downstairs to get some food. “How did I wake up first?” He wonders but then shrugs it off. 

The tavern is empty except for one face. An interesting one. The woman’s skin was a dark blue color and she wore light clothing. It was warm out so that made sense. But Varian mostly ignored her. But she seemed to take an interest in him

“Pancakes please. Bananas and Strawberries if you have any please.” He tells the tavernkeep, who nods and begins to make a meal 

The woman from the corner goes over to him, interested. “Sweet tooth kid?”

“Yea.” He suddenly yawns, unsure if he wanted a conversation at the moment, but figured he’d try “I’m sorry I’m really tired and I couldn’t get any rest.”

“Oh?”

“Yea. My life was recently turned upside down.” He tried to be vague

“I see. You mind if I sit next to you?”

Varian gives her a curious look but shrugs “Yea sure.”

The pancakes, which happened to be pre-made are given to Varian and he starts to eat as the woman examines him. No words, just studying him. 

“Excuse me but is everything okay?”

“Yea. Just curious.”

He gets a good look at her. And how odd she appears. I mean not as odd as a grey Tiefling or a Half-Elf with Wings, but still he was curious. “If you don’t mind me asking, what are you? Blue skin and all?”

“I’m a water genasi.” She answers.

Varian had heard of genasi‘s. They aren’t seen often. They are the result of union between a being of the mortal plane and a genie. Or rather, the result of some form of Genie blood. This woman must have blood of a Marid, the genies of the elemental plane of water “I see. That’s really cool.” He says as he finishes his food

“That was fast” she comments

“I slid a good amount to my buddy right there.” He points to Ruddiger who is chewing on a pancake “You think a halfling could eat the whole thing so quickly?”

“Good point. So what’s got your life turned upside down?” She asked. Varian was starting to get curious as to why she was so interested

“I’m sorry but I’d rather not say.”

“That's Okay, I think I already know...” she states, suddenly receiving a surprised look from Varian. “Huh... Varian?”

He was confused “Huh? Wait I didn’t tell you my... “ It takes him a sec but he realizes what’s going on and what her intentions are. He suddenly makes a break for it but she is incredibly quick and has the halfling up against the wall struggling before he’s able to do much. 

“You have a high bounty for someone so weak. Wonder what’s up?” She ponders out loud but she is suddenly hit with an Eldritch Blast from Cassandra who had just arrived. 

“Let go of him, sea bitch” Cass glared at the woman. It was very clear the two knew each other and were not friendly towards one another.

“Cass!”

The woman looked a bit surprised “Cutthroat? So he’s a part of Sundrop’s crew huh?” She suddenly looks to Varian “Kid, you being forced?”

He was still struggling. “What no! Last time I checked you’re the one pinning me to the wall.”

Yea, let’s fix that.” Cass states as she casts a blood maledict that holds the woman in place. “I suggest you scram, you’ve tried this before and it hasn’t gone well.”

Varian is able to break out of the grapple as the woman is frozen in place “Remind me, who is this?”

“Her name is Moana. She’s a marine. She’s often after our asses, but she always gets hers served by us. Varian, call to Raps please. We’ll make sure she gets what’s coming to her.”

Moana grits her teeth “Not this time, criminal!” She suddenly uses a spell that makes the entire room soundless. A silence spell.

The spell that Cass used to make her hold on Moana releases and she immediately starts to conjure up all the water in the building to surround her, and starts hurling it at Cass. She repeatedly dodges them but it’s getting harder by the second. Cass takes out her swords and attempts to charge towards Moana. 

Meanwhile, they don’t seem to notice Varian as he slips into his backpack and pulls out a bright blue ball. He had worked all night on this and he got to use it sooner than he expected. He crushes the ball in his hand, and similar to how he did the other spell, a bright blue mist fills the air. But the effect is different. This spell is Ray of Frost. Suddenly the water that Moana is controlling freezes over. She is clearly shocked by this but Cass just smirks as charges for her. Moana is forced to take out her sword to fight her.

The two continue to sword fight as Varian gets out the slingshot he got from the store the day before and slings one of the balls directly at Moana, hitting her. She is blasted back by cold damage and her movement is suddenly restricted as she is partially frozen. Cass quickly gets the upper hand as she pins the marine to the wall, smirking. 

Moana suddenly drops the spell “you can’t escape the law forever!”

Cass gives her a cocky look “Can’t I?”

Moana turns to Varian “Listen, Varian, I know your whole situation is complicated but you can’t trust these people.”

Cass suddenly shuts her up with her hand “I suggest not moving that tongue if you wanna keep it. He knows what he’s getting into.”

“I’m sorry, but you were the one who attacked me. I’m more prone to listen to the people who’ve been nice to me.”

“You ran!” Moana said, annoyed “That’s super suspicious.”

Cass gives Varian a look of warming “She just wants you in chains, I wouldn’t listen to her. She only sees you as a criminal. Just like she does the rest of us.”

“That's what you are.” Moana spits

Cass gets her sword close to her throat and Moana shuts up. Cass backs off. 

~

Raps comes down and sees Varian and Cass in the tavern with Moana tied up and immediately starts laughing “Cass foil another attempt?”

Cass chuckled, giving a prideful look to Varian “Actually, the hero this time is Varian.”

“Oh rely?”

“I was able to put my spells into my slingshot ammo. And I had one for Ray of Frost. And well, water genasi.” He blushes a bit

“Very clever.”

Cass smirk, giving a malicious look to her captive “So Cap? What do we do with her? I suggest walking the plank.”

Moana rolled her eyes “Rely? That generic? If you’re going to kill me at least make it original.”

Raps smirks “Actually, plank seems like a good idea.”

“What?” Said Moana 

“What?” Said Varian

Cass chuckles “Oh I think I see where you’re going with this. Get on the table.”

Moana looked at the table and then back at Cass, confused “What, no!” Cass twirls her sword a bit threateningly. “Fine...” she gets on “what exactly are you...”

Rapunzel is quickly up on the table too and she holds her frying pan up to her. “Go ahead, walk it.”

“What? This is a table, not a plank.” She protests

“The floor is lava. So I suggest you do it quickly.” Raps smiled playfully 

“You’re a child.”

“Just do it.” Moana rolls her eyes and jumps off the table and Raps breaks out laughing “Oh come on, you know I couldn’t drown you if I wanted to. I know you can breath underwater.”

“So you just wanted to embarrass me.”

She giggles “Yea, it’s fun.”

Moana sighs “Just kill me already”

“Oh relax. You’re not gonna die. Though now that we know you’re here.” She thinks about it. “We’re gonna need to head out soon.” She turns to Pascal on her shoulder, “Do we have everything we need to get going?” Pascal shrugs “Seems we need a few more supplies. Cass, take whatever she has on her, buy us some food for the ride.” 

“Yes Captain” she smirks

“And Varian?”

“Captain?”

“Show me what spells you have. I wanna know what you’re working with. We’ll have the guys watch over miss sea legs over here until we leave.”

“So I’m your hostage? This is humiliating.” Moans groans and complains

“I mean, your men won’t attack us, because if we do their boss’s throat gets cut. Or worse, she might have to walk the plank again. Publicly.” 

“First option please.”

~

Raps and Varian find themselves moving themselves to a different room. Varian pulls a book out of his backpack that Rapunzel recognizes as one of the books they were able to save for him out of the library. He hands her the book. “Here, these are most of my notes. I don’t write everything in just one language though. And the most important stuff is in alchemist’s tongue.”

Rapunzel looked through the book and he was indeed honest, he wrote his notes in several different languages. A few languages she happened to recognize, a few she had no clue. “Geez, how many languages do you know?”

“Six. I know Common, Halfling, Elvish, Alchemist’s Tongue, and I’m still learning Draconic, and Celestial”

She was quickly interested “You’re learning Celestial?”

“Yea.”

“Maybe I can teach you what you have left to learn.” She said, getting excited 

“You know Celestial too?”

“Yea. Allot of my verbal spells are in Celestial. It’d be fun to teach you.”

“Yea Okay. I’m down.”

Rapunzel flips through the book until she gets to a more recent page, one that’s written in celestial. So far so good, but could use some work “Not bad. But you can’t exactly think of Celestial as just a regular language.”

“I can’t?”

“It’s more spiritual. I mean you’re trying to understand something written by gods. It’s not like Alchemist’s Tongue where it’s a bunch of complicated concepts.”

“Oh.” He said. She definitely seemed interested in Alchemist’s Tongue. Heck, he still had a lot of questions about the first day they met. “Can I ask you something? Why were you after the book of Azoth? It’s written in Alchemist’s Tongue and you don’t know it.”

Raps suddenly got a bit awkward “Well, it’s complicated. You know how pirates are into treasure?”

“Yea.” Of course he was

“Well, the book was one I was interested in. For my own motives.” She explains, clearly keeping some information out

“How did you know I knew Alchemist’s Tongue?” He hoped he wasn’t pressing too hard, but he had questions. And even if she probably wouldn’t answer everything, he could at least know enough to piece things together.

“When you showed me the booby trap you set by the book, I got a good look at it. And I noticed it was opened and had a bookmark. No one else was there. It had to be you.”

“Is that why you invited me into your crew?” He asked, completely serious. He was hoping it was more than just that.

She answered quickly and confidently “Nope. I told you exactly why.”

“You see potential in me.”

Rapunzel chuckled “And boy was I right. You just won your first fight with not too much effort wasted.”

“Thanks”

“No problem.” She suddenly sees a page in his notes that catches her attention “This spell. This spell could be useful. If this plan goes awry, me and you need a backup plan.”

Varian looks at the spell she happened to be looking at. It was a page written in Elven, so she understood, being half Elven herself. “What did you have in mind?”

~

“You know the deal?” Rapunzel stated as the crew walked through the almost vacant downtown to the pier. Moana was next to her, her hands tied behind her back.

“Yea Yea. Keep my men away from you while you can set up your boat and get away.”

“Exactly. So proud of you.” Rapunzel smiles at her. Moana growls in response

“Are we all prepared to leave this time?” Varian asked in concern, remembering when they left Hillfar

“No worries Var. We made sure we had it already.” She smiles at him

Moana finds the correct moment while the two are talking and whispers a spell to herself. And suddenly she kicks Lance and runs off.

“Hey!” 

They all turn to Rapunzel who gives them an annoyed look “GET HER!” Eugene, Lance, and Cass run off. But as Varian goes to do so Raps holds him back. Except you. You can’t handle her on your own.”

“Oh...”

She suddenly smirks “Plus, my dear friend. This is why we have a backup plan.”

~

Moana rushes to a merchant of weaponry, her hands still tied behind her back. “Sir, can you get these ropes off me. I was bound by pirates.” She turned around to show him her binds.

He nods, noticing the woman was clearly of authority but would’ve helped either way “Right away”

“Thanks.” She gets out a bow and arrow from her back as soon as she’s free and aims back from where she came from. 

Just as Lance, Eugene, and Cass arrives, she fires, using the spell Hail of Thorns to hit all three of them with the thorns admitted from the attack. It’s loud and quickly gets the attention of everyone around.

Moana calls out to the people present with warning “Everyone! Get out of here, these people are dangerous Pirates! Don’t let them hurt you!” This had the opposite effect as more people started to arrive instead to see what was going on. One of them being what appeared to be a young human boy being followed by a raccoon.

And that’s when Raps caught up “You’re an idiot.”

“Oh yea, how so? Am I wrong?”

“Acting like just because I’m a pirate that means I’m going to attack people who’ve done nothing to me. You need to get your prejudices in order.”

Suddenly a bunch of other marines arrive, gathering up behind Moana, intending to back up their commander. A fight definitely was brewing. Eugene, Cass, and Lance get up and get their weapons out to fight the marine’s.

“Just give up Sundrop. This is over.” Said Moana

Rapunzel looks to all the people in the crowd looking at them fearfully. She then glares back at Moana “I’d rather not. “

Moana turns to the people “Go! She’s dangerous!”

Rapunzel speaks to them, but not keeping her eyes off the marine. “She’s right. I am dangerous.” She unsheathes her sword and her pink armor comes back. “And if you’re my enemy, you should fear me more than anyone else.”

Her wings appear as well and sight of it causes a lot of civilians watching to either run, hide, or get out. But not all. That one boy is still watching, Rapunzel notices just as Moana is getting ready to fire her arrow. Rapunzel speeds over to him gets behind him and puts her sword to his neck. The child looks terrified.

“Fine then, fish girl. I have myself a new hostage.” She glares at Moana. Cass, Lance and Flynn look shocked.

“Captain What are you DOING!?” Flynn shouts

“This is what happens when you cross me.” Rapunzel grits her teeth

Seeing Rapunzel put the boy in front of her, Moana drops her weapon “You’re cruel!”

“Oh I know. Now let me pass!”

“Fine... don’t hurt him”

“I’ll let him go once my ship is ready to leave. No funny business”

Moana sighs “Fine”

~

They all make it to the ship where Rapunzel makes her ship appear by stating a spell while still holding the kid hostage. The Delinquent’s Plunder appears from her necklace. The other members of the crew are still shocked. 

Once the ship is back to being in the water and not in her locket, she gives her crew a look. “What are you waiting for. Get in! Get ready to sail!”

Her crew does so, and she just glares at Moana and her men for a minute. 

“Alright we’re good.” Flynn states quickly “Where’s Varian and Ruddiger” 

“They’re coming” Raps states. Suddenly Ruddiger runs up to Flynn from the alley.

“Where’s Varian?”

Moana was only paying attention to Raps “Okay... give me the kid.” Rapunzel lets go of the kid and he shyly goes to Moana

Moana kneels down to the boy “Hey, it’s okay. She’s not going to hurt you.”

The kid suddenly smirks “I know that.” He suddenly throws a green ball in her face and runs back to Rapunzel. The ball blows up in smoke as it hits her and she inhales it. Moana immediately starts puking from it. 

“What the...?”

The kid uses his shirt to wipe something off his face, to reveal he was Varian the whole time. “That ball had a Ray of Sickness spell in it.”

“You! You were never in danger!” Moans replies, shocked, in the middle of vomiting 

Raps giggles “Like I said. You need to fix that prejudice of yours.”

“Very proud of my ‘Disguise Self’ Lotion.” Varian states proudly

“Very impressive. Come on, let’s get going.” Raps and Varian gets onto the ship as Moana just glares at them while throwing up. Her men just stay behind to help her out as she seems way too sick.

~

As soon as the ship has set sail, Rapunzel turns to Varian “Woo, high five!” Raps and Varian high five but the rest of the crew is looking at them annoyed

“What?” Varian asked 

Cass was the first to speak up “Could you two had notified us of your ‘cunning plan’. We thought you actually where hurting a kid. Varian could’ve gotten hurt himself.”

Varian immediately got a bit flushed “You care?”

Cass looked away, acting tough “I mean... I guess.”

Flynn sighs “Of course she cares. We all do. Even if you weren’t part of the crew you’re our friend.”

“Oh.” He suddenly felt bad. Knowing that they cared about him and he just put himself in danger like that. Though it did seem like most of their anger wasn’t directed at him.

“Not that I’m against crazy plans. But can’t you please alert YOUR CREW.” Flynn spoke to the captain with annoyance, but also as if he was talking to his superior. Since he was.

Still, Rapunzel was humble. She held her head down, realizing what they were saying “You’re right... I’m sorry. But you know I wouldn’t actually have hurt him. Whether it was Varian or not.” 

“No... but that gave us one hell of a scare.” Cass states

“Not to mention we can probably never show our faces here again.” Lance adds

“Oh... I didn’t think about that.”

Flynn spoke again, “Look, you’re the captain and all and you’re in charge, but can you please let us know these things.”

“I’m sorry. I will try to be more transparent with you guys from now on. I promise”

~

As Moana investigates the townspeople she happens to notice a hawk landing nearby. She gets a good look at it and rolls her eyes a bit. She takes a deep breath and walks off to her ship, and the bird follows. Just as she makes it back the bird lands and turns into a person. Moana instantly recognizes him as Maui

“Hey there buddy”

“Hey Maui. You know I got this whole thing covered right?”

“Ah not from what I heard. Headquarters sent me to bring in the mad Alchemist. But it really seems like Sundrop is becoming a big problem for you.”

“She's just a tricky pirate to catch. That’s all.”

“From What I heard the townspeople say, she took a child hostage today.”

“She didn’t. It was the mad alchemist. He used some type of magic lotion that acted like the ‘Disguise Self’ spell. Artificer stuff.” She rolled her eyes a bit, still annoyed by being duped

“Well, like it or not, I’m here to help.”

“Urg fine. At least they choose a babysitter who happens to be a friend.”

Maui smirks and wraps an arm around her playfully “The best babysitter in the world kid. I need to be to watch you.”

Moana chuckles “Shut up you big goon.”

“So the situation? You think she’s a threat?”

“The girl who made it clear to the entire world today that she is ruthless and cold, Yea, I think she’s a problem.” She was bitter “I hate that woman”

“So how many magic users are on her crew?”

“The only ones not magical are Rider and their animals. That boy I met is definitely magical.”

“What kind of magic does Sundrop use? You stated that the Mad Alchemist is an Artificer. And Cutthroat and Strongbow are known for being a Blood Hunter and a Bard.”

“Hell if I know. All I know is that she has some crazy wings and she can glow.”

This seemed to strike Maui as peculiar and slightly alarming “Glowing can mean a number of things. But wings? You sure?”

“Yea... it was crazy”

“This could be problematic.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NPC Moana  
> Race: Water Genasi  
> Class: Ranger (Horizon Walker)  
> Alignment: LG  
> Fighting Style: Archery
> 
> Ability Scores  
> STR: 14  
> DEX:17  
> CON: 14  
> INT: 16  
> WIS: 17  
> CHA: 11
> 
> Little piece of irrelevant to the story lore but here we go. Moana comes from a colony of humans that have been living in Ellastraya since it was first discovered by the other kingdoms of the world. They have a connection to the genies of the elemental plane of water but allot like in the movie they have long since abandoned that old heritage. But Moana found a way to connect to it thanks to her grandmother and her skin turned blue and she adopted traits of her Marid heritage.


	5. Date Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A date between Rapunzel and Flynn leads to some awkward moments. Meanwhile Lance, Cass, and Varian have to deal with a familiar marine tracking them down and her friend who happens to be a powerful Druid.

The Delinquent’s Plunder docks on the shore of the next island. Elenclave. The crew quickly gets off it. And it’s Captain is the first one to speak. “Okay, this island should be safe for now. And it’s the perfect place to stay for a bit too.”

“It is?” Varian asked

“This island is known for having a hidden treasure that adventurers and pirates alike have tried to find for years. And we may be the first.” Once everyone is off, Rapunzel uses her magic to put her ship back into the locket around her neck. “The best tool a pirate could ask for right here. It’s good to have you back.” She gives the locket a kiss

Flynn chuckles and goes up to her “Hey, are you giving your necklace more love than your boyfriend?” He teases 

Raps giggles “No, you’re still my favorite.”

“Good. Because Blondie, I was thinking I was thinking, maybe while we’re here we could head to one of those cute tourist-y restaurants together. Have a nice night after all that tension.” He goes up to her and gets close, giving her a kiss. “What do you think captain?”

“Yea, Hello... the rest of the crew is right here.” Lance shields Varian’s eyes but he pulls the hand off him

Pulling back from the kiss, Rapunzel boops Flynn’s nose “You come up with some good ideas. But if we’re gonna go you’re going to need to look good for me.” She smirks and looks him up and down.

“Yes Captain.” He smirks back

Varian puts Lance’s hand back over his eyes.

“Let me at least set up my new spell so we can have a place to stay.” Lance states.

“New spell?” Varian puts Lance’s hand away again

Flynn was quickly excited “I’ve been WAITING for him to be able to use this one.”

Lance hums really quickly and suddenly a tent appears in thin air, set up on the beach “It doesn’t have to be a tent, heck, it can be invisible. And any creature I choose can enter.”

“Oh gee, a tent” Cass responds, clearly not impressed

“Oh just look inside”

Cass goes inside the tent and from inside they hear her say “oh... wow”

They all go in and see that the space looks cozy. Something you’d expect from a nice cabin in the woods. It had a small table, chairs, a fireplace, and a hallway with five rooms.

“What is this?”

“It’s a spell called Leomund’s Tiny Hut. It’s like a less powerful version of the enchantment Raps has on the Delinquent’s Plunder.” Lance explains

Rapunzel explains some more “And thanks to THAT enchantment, I managed to be able to have it that all our rooms from the ship are here with us.”

Cass heard this and goes to the door labeled “Cass” and sure enough it transported her to her room from the ship “Okay... THIS is cool.”

Lance bows theatrically “Why Thank you.”

“I say we take a look in town soon though. Get a look at the things to do and look for supplies to help find this treasure.”

“Yea. That’s a good idea.” The Captain says, giving her approval 

“Sounds good. But you two should go on that date. The rest of us can handle the chores and tasks.” Lance states

Rapunzel nods “Thank you Lance. That’s really sweet of you guys. Make sure you get all the information we need so we can learn our way around so we’ll be better suited to nab that treasure.“

~

A marine ship docks on the shore of Elenclave with Maui and Moana on it. “You sure they are here?” Maui looks to her curiously 

“They were headed in this direction plus this island is known for its treasure. My bet, Sundrop is after it.” Moana answers. 

This strikes Maui as important, but once again he doesn’t tell Moana why. “Come on, I’m sure someone so powerful isn’t so concerned in a trivial prize. She must have some bigger game than this.”

“Yea... I thought so too. But except for her involvement in the events in Hillfar I’ve seen no sign that that is the case.” Moana says.

“She was in Hillfar when the library burned down?”

Moana nods “The townsfolk believe it was her. That she corrupted the mind of the boy guarding the library, convinced him to burn it, and then kidnapped him.”

“What do you think?”

“What does it matter? Either way, she’s a bad guy. A criminal.”

Maui sighs and looks ahead “I mean, not all criminals are bad guys. But I see your point.”

~

“Go! Go have fun on your date! Enjoy yourselves!” Lance said as he comically tried to push Raps and Flynn out of the tent

They were both dressed up nice. Flynn in a dashing coat and Rapunzel in a purple dress. But she was a bit more hesitant to go than he was “I’m not so sure, you guys sure you can...”

Cass quickly interrupts her “Raps I get that you’re the captain and you’re worried, but we’re fine. We’re adults, we can handle ourselves.” She gave her a smile. 

The captain took a deep breath. Giving a look to the three humanoids she was planning on leaving by themselves. They couldn’t cause too much trouble right? “Okay... but be careful.”

“Blondie, I think they have it under control” Flynn puts a hand on her shoulder, calming Rapunzel’s nerves a bit.

She gave a look to Varian. The halfling seemed to be in agreement that she should let some stress go and have some fun. The boy had been on the crew for less than two weeks and he’s already just as concerned for her well being. She was so lucky to have such caring friends.

“Watch over Varian, make sure he doesn’t get hurt.” Rapunzel almost sounded overprotective as she said it

“I’ll be fine. Just go.” 

“Ok ok.” She giggles a bit. She wraps her arm around Flynn’s and walks out with him.

As soon as she is gone, Lance and Cass quickly smirk at each other “Are we corrupting him?”

“Oh totally” Cass quickly grabs Varian’s arm and leads him out of the tent 

“Wait What?” He says innocently

“We’re taking you to a REAL tavern. And we’re gonna have some FUN.” She says to him with a mischievous smirk

“Ah... geez... yeah okay”

~

Flynn smiles as he entered the nice restaurant. It wasn’t the fanciest place but it would do fine. However he quickly turned to his girlfriend and noticed that she still had her sword and her frying pan on her. “You know you didn’t have to bring the sword or the pan right? Moana is like miles away.”

She looks to him with a reassuring smile “It’s just to make sure. A Captain has to make sure she’s always ready, right?”

“I mean I DID tell you that but...”

She quickly stops his speech by kissing him. She's so confident and so bright that he can’t just help but shut up and enjoy her taking his breath away. “I promise I’ll make sure we’re having fun. No need for fighting enemies tonight.” 

Her words quickly calm him “How can I say no to you?” He chuckles and goes up to the cashier “Hello. Table for two please”

The cashier looks to him and smiles “Yea no problem sir. That’ll be...” she goes to tell him how long they’ll be waiting but pauses as she looks to Raps “Absolutely no wait at all...”

“Wha?” Flynn tilted his head confused 

“Everything okay?” Raps asks

“You’re Sundrop Rapunzel” there was a fearful look in the woman’s eyes

Rapunzel suddenly slunk down and went a little red in a blush “Oh... yea... hi.”

“Just go through we’ll get you what you want. On the house” she said 

“Oh... thanks... but... you don’t have to...” the pirate captain was almost stuttering. She’s seen people be afraid of her before, and she almost never enjoyed it. It was uncomfortable.

“She’s not that scary is she?” Flynn was a bit surprised by the woman’s reaction. Usually people didn’t pay too much mind to the pirates unless they were marines or bounty hunters.

“It’s just, we know what you do with people who cross you. And what happened with that kid.”

“Wow, word travels fast”

Rapunzel spoke up quickly, wanting to do whatever she could to make the poor girl not afraid “But you haven’t crossed me. And the thing with the kid, well, that wasn’t real. My friend was disguised as a kid and...”

Flynn gently puts a hand on her shoulder “I know you want to explain it, but it’s kind of too late. People aren’t going to understand” Rapunzel turned back to him, ready to protest but then thought about it. She couldn’t think to say another word. 

“Just please come this way.” The cashier said as she lead them to their table, Raps having her head down uncomfortably the whole time. And she leaves them at one of the nicest ones available and rushes off. Into the kitchen and not where they came from, most likely to alert others to be careful around the dangerous pirate.

“I thought you liked having your name out there. Being feared?” Flynn tried to start up any form of conversation 

“I do... just... feared by my enemies, not regular people who haven’t done a thing to harm me. That feels... bad.”

Flynn nods “Yea. That’s why we were surprised at your stunt the other day.”

She facepalms, realizing this is a consequence of her actions the day before “I’m sorry. I swore to protect people when I took my oath and I... I feel like I just betrayed that.” She couldn’t explain why she felt the way she did but her soul hurt, and she immediately regretted everything she did or didn’t do in the last 24 hours.

“Well, does your magic still work?” Flynn asked simply 

“Yea. I think.” She picked up her frying pan and it quickly glows with radiant energy “It does”

“Then you’re fine right?”

She puts it back and sighs, “I don’t know if it works like that.”

“Hey look, despite what you did yesterday or anything else you’ve done, you’re a hero. Even if you don’t always feel like it. Even if they don’t see it that way. Sometimes the people never truly understand who’s standing behind them.”

“Thanks I needed to hear that.” She smiled at him. She knew she wouldn’t be seen as the hero in the war she was waging. The people would never truly know. But she had made peace with that. Or so she thought. 

“That’s what I’m here for right? Moral support?” He chuckles playfully 

Rapunzel smirks teasingly “No because you’re obedient and you kiss good.” 

“So... I’m your bitch?”

She suddenly cracks up laughing and slaps his arm playfully “Flynn!” She giggles and gives him a quick kiss “No, you’re my right hand man.”

Flynn pouts a bit “Can’t I be both?”

“Not here. Let’s not give them another reason to dislike us.”

“Oh... good point. “

~

“WOO HOO!” Cass shouted from on top of a tavern table. Both hands in the air and mug of ale gripped in her tail. Many of the patrons looked up at the the crazy Tiefling woman dumbfounded and irritated.

“She’s only like this when drunk huh?” Varian whispers to Lance, this was the first time he’s seen Cass excited. He’s seen her happy or amused. But never so energetic. She wasn’t the type.

“Actually, she’s not drunk, she just loves getting into bar fights” Lance watches from a safe distance with a drink, enjoying the show. He knew that engaging the crazy demon woman was only playing into her trap and most who tried would only ever end up more injured than they ever wanted to be. 

“You’re all my bitches!” Cass yells with a bit of a daze in her eye as she stomps loud on the table to get their attention. They glared at her “You don’t like it? COME AT ME!” The other patrons immediately charge at her and she fights them without her swords or anything but her fists and her tail. 

“Okay maybe a BIT drunk” Lance comments, keeping an eye on the situation. But he was clearly being untruthful. Cass being THIS drunk was a rare treat. She often would be able to hold down against most of the crew in a drinking competition. The only one that could always beat her was Raps who had the unfair advantage of having a holy resistance to the stuff. 

Varian couldn’t help but enjoy watching Cassandra kick ass. He couldn’t tell if it was the fact that she was his friend and he felt prideful. But he was mesmerized by how strong and badass she was. 

She kept going until one patron got what seemed to be a really hard punch to her and she recoiled. She grins at the man as her eyes start to glow red and the windows of the tavern start opening up and down rapidly and several blue flares erupt from Cass and attack the man that just hit her. Hellish Rebuke. He suddenly slammed directly into a table. And as Cass turned around to continue to fight the others were very hesitant to continue. They backed off from her.

Cass chuckles “Aww. Too scared?” She suddenly spoke in Infernal “You should be” But all they heard was a scary language she spoke as her eyes burned red. The men quickly ran back to their seats and she started to laugh. “I’m the queen of this tavern, got it!”

Varian at this point stepped in, much to the dismay of Lance who wanted to see the chaos pursue. Both guys realizing she might be making mistakes she’ll regret in the morning, but having very different opinions on what to do about it.

Varian grabs her arm “Okay, maybe you should sit now. Maybe get you some food?”

Cass looks down at him and smiled “Hey!” She quickly picked up the small halfling boy in one big swoop and showed him off. “Ya’ll ain’t got have the brains or guts as this kid here. This halfling is beating you out.” She quickly kisses him on the cheek, causing Varian to get flushed. Cass then giggled and places the halfling on her shoulders piggyback style. She then flipped off the others and went to the bar where Lance was.

“Okay Cass, can you let me down?” Varian asked, holding onto her horns for balance

“You get down yourself Mr Smarty Pants”

Varian takes a deep breath and sighs. Cass sits down to eat and Varian uses the chair she sat on to get off of her and onto the floor. He gives Lance an annoyed look. “No help back there?”

Lance chuckles “I thought you’d appreciate a kiss from her.”

Varian blushes heavily, looking away. But as he does he notices two figures enter from all the way on the other side of the tavern. Haven yet to notice them so to the crowd. A blue genasi and some other, larger, figure. “Oh shit.”

“What?”

Varian points to the door that Moana and Maui seem to be coming in from

“Well that’s problematic.”

Thinking on his feet, Varian comes up with a plan “Get Cass out of here, I’ll distract them.”

“What no...”

Varian pulls out one of his disguise self lotion bottles “I got this.”

Lance sighs. “Okay I see your point. But be careful”

Varian disguises himself as a shady looking gnome and runs up to the two marines as they are looking around. He sneakily steals something from Moana’s pocket. Some gold. And he stays for a second to make sure she noticed him take it. Once she does Varian takes off out of the tavern. Moana rushes out to follow. “Hey get back here!”

~

Lance meanwhile manages to lead Cass out the back door of the tavern. “Cass? You had to get into a fight didn’t you?”

“It was so much fun though.”

“Moana’s here.”

Cass’s eyes suddenly get serious “Moana... oh shit!”

“Varian’s distracting her and...”

She quickly goes back to try and help him before Lance could even finish his statement “Hes What!!! No, we gotta go save him.” She goes to run but trips

Lance quickly puts her back on balance “I’m gonna help him now. Stay here.”

Cass grits her teeth, annoyed. And Lance takes that as her saying yes so he heads off. 

However, Cass is not one who’s a fan of being told what to do. And it visibly annoyed her. So instead she decides to follow right behind Lance at a slower speed.

~

Moana chases after who she thinks is a gnome into an alleyway. Varian suddenly turns around to realize that she cornered him. 

“What do you think you’re...” Moana glares at him 

As Lance arrives, he sees the scene and quickly casts “Disguise Self” on himself. He disguises himself as different human with a mustache and a hat. He then proceeds to go up to the two “There you are chippy!”

Varian tilts his head confused at the name the strange man was calling him. He couldn’t tell this was Lance. 

Lance looks to Moana “I’m sorry ma’am did he cause trouble?”

“Yea! He stole from me.”

“I’m sorry. He has a problem. He’s a good guy at heart.” Lance goes by him, leans down to him and winks, letting Varian know that it’s him “Chippy, give back what you stole.”

Suddenly realizing what Lance is up to, he plays along. ‘Chippy’ looks away embarrassed and hands her the money back “I’m sorry”

Moana’s anger suddenly drops, feeling sympathy for the individual she believes to be a gnome going through a rough patch “Oh... well... that’s okay. Just get some help okay?”

Moana goes to walk away but as she does she notices Cass crash into a nearby dumpster. “Wait a minute” Moana goes to turn back to the other two but Lance pushes her to the side to run away. Moana tried to grab Varian but the small figure is too slippery and he slips through her fingers “You!”

Lance quickly picks Cass up over his shoulder and the three of them rush off. 

~

Once they are out of sight of Moana Lance casts Leomund’s Tiny Hut and suddenly they disappear.

What the three of them see is Lance casting the spell, and suddenly they’re in their hut. They can see the outside, but Lance has made the hut invisible to anyone outside. So when Moana happens to catch up she is amazed to find no one there. She looks shocked.

Suddenly Maui catches up to Moana “There you are kid”

Moana however was still in disbelief “They were just there! Strongbow, Cutthroat and the Alchemist!”

Maui puts his hand on her shoulder and gentle guides her back to the streets “Well, we know they are here on the island and they couldn’t have gotten far. If we search maybe we can find Sundrop and Rider”

She takes a deep breath “Yea. You make a good point. Thanks.”

“It’s not a problem.”

As they head off Lance turns to the other two “Wait, who was that guy?”

Cass, who had just had enough food and exercise to not be as loopy, but now very exhausted, has enough brainpower to recall the face “I know him. That’s Maui. He’s a high ranking official”

“Oh shoot. My dad knows him.” Varian says. He never met the guy but his father does

“We need to send Raps a message.”

Lance nods “I’m on it” Lance suddenly casts a spell to do just that

~

Raps is in the diner when Lance’s message makes it to her. The spell sends it in her head. “Flynn, we have to go... quickly...”

“What’s wrong?”

She gets up quickly “I just got a message from Lance. Apparently Moana is around and she brought a friend. A powerful one.”

“Oh” Flynn was clearly disappointed

Rapunzel looked to him suddenly feeling a bit bad “I mean, we were going to leave soon anyway, right?”

“Oh... sure...”

She sighs, goes over to him, and grabs his hands “I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you soon. Promise.” She gives him a quick peck on the lips. 

As she pulls back Flynn nods “Nono. You’re right. We should go.”

Rapunzel turns to the same woman as earlier. The one who was afraid of her “Check please.”

“Y-you can just take it for free.” And she still was afraid of her

“Oh good” Flynn smiles, totally content with not having to pay for what they ate

“How much would it have been?” The woman hands Raps the check. She pays for it anyway, placing the money on the table, and adding a tip “Thank you for your hospitality” Rapunzel would not have let herself take advantage of that situation. 

~

Raps and Flynn quickly catch up to their friends only a few blocks away. “There you guys are.” Raps smiles, but then suddenly looks to Cass who’s a little shaky “Is she drunk?”

“Long story. We have to go before...”

It was just then when Moana managed to spot them as she was turning a corner “There you are!” Maui was by her side

Rapunzel was immediately in taunt mode “Moana, wow, you followed me all the way here? Such a fangirl.”

Moana grits her teeth, getting annoyed. But Maui just stepped in front of his friend and stood tall and... dare Moana say it... professional. It wasn’t a look she saw much of him. “Watch, my little friend, let me show you how it’s done.”

The pirate only chuckles “Aww, Moana, you needed your boss to come face me for you? That’s cute.”

“Be careful captain” Varian warns “This guy is a powerful Druid”

“Sundrop, I suggest you give in easy. I am General Maui of the Chinarian Empire. And I suggest you come peacefully and we can make a deal.”

Flynn is now the one to chuckle “Yea, That doesn’t sound like us.”

Raps smirks and gets out her frying pan from her side and twirls it. Still in her nice looking dress “Sounds like fun big guy, but I’ll pass. I think I’d rather fight.”

“Be careful. I don’t quite understand how her magic works.” Moana warns her friend

Maui gets his fish hook out, ready to fight “Oh, I got this.” 

Maui goes to attack, running up to swing but Rapunzel blocks with her frying pan, pulling him back a bit. She suddenly strikes him with the Frying Pan and manages to make a hit. The impact causes a loud bang that is heard all around. Maui is pushed back a few feet but gets up okay, examining her a bit. 

Maui recognizes the spell. Thunderous Smite. And it was being conducted through her weapon. “Thunder damage. Nice.” He could tell quickly this woman was a paladin. But the question he wondered was of what deity and what Oath.

She smirked wide “I’m pretty skilled.”

Maui suddenly lifts his hand and casts a spell on her. Though Rapunzel doesn't feel a thing. Except for a mild chill in the air. “Elemental bane” he whispers under his breath. But Varian is able to perceive it.

“Excuse me?” Raps Ignores it and goes for a Wrathful Smite but Maui efficiently dodges “How are you so fast?”

Cass, still a bit hazy, goes to step in “Captain, I can help you...”

“Cass, this is my fight. I appreciate it though.” She calls back to her. She wanted none of her crew getting involved if this guy was supposedly so powerful. Even if fighting in a dress was challenging.

“We can end this now, Sundrop.” Maui reminds her 

“But I’m just starting to have fun.”

“Fine then, I warned you.” He casts a spell at her and suddenly Raps is surrounded by frost and is suddenly feeling a lot of pain. The spell is called Frostbite. Rapunzel recognizes it but swore that spell wouldn’t hurt as much as it is. 

“Ah!”

“Rapunzel!” Flynn quickly runs to go help but Rapunzel just glares at him 

“I said stay out of this!” If she was losing this fight already, she was pretty sure Flynn would only get himself hurt. And he halts and stays out of it. Just like she told him to. “Fine you asked for it.” Her frying pan glows with radiant energy and she goes to swing, but misses entirely “What the?”

“Elemental Bane! He made you weak to the cold.” Varian shouts out. He had heard of Elemental Bane in his studies. It gives the opponent an elemental weakness of the casters choice 

Maui smirks at the halfling “Very observant” He suddenly casts another spell and creates a shard of ice in his grip and flings it at Rapunzel, and it hits, managing to strike her in the shoulder piercing her. 

“Ah...” Rapunzel seems hurt but pulls it out. She grins through the pain at him. “Nice try but...” Before she can finish her statement the ice shard immediately explodes in her hand, causing her to be blown back and taking even more ice damage.

“Rapunzel!” Flynn can’t take it anymore as he suddenly goes over to her and this time she doesn’t stop him. But as he goes to help her, Rapunzel doesn’t let up. She gets up and glares at Maui. “Let’s run.” Flynn warns

“No. I can do more. Stand back.” Flynn does so and Rapunzel pulls out her sword, summoning her armor. She is suddenly adorned in her pink armor and her sword is glowing radiant energy. Her incorporeal wings even show up. “You have no idea who you’re messing with.” She glares at Maui

Maui takes a step back but is still ready to fight. And as soon as he sees her armor he can’t help but mutter “A Lawbreaker”

Moana overheard “Lawbreaker? What the hell does that mean?”

Raps flies towards him with her wings, sword striking with a Divine Smite but Maui blocks with his fish hook, causing her to have to partially land. As soon as Rapunzel’s foot touches the ground it’s suddenly ensnared by vines that pulls her away from Maui and holds her in place. Rapunzel struggles but Maui has stopped attacking.

“You’re a Lawbreaker. And an Aasimar” Something was clearly clicking in his head

“A what now?” Moana asks, but Maui doesn’t respond 

“You’re her. You’re the daughter of...” Rapunzel’s eyes widen allot as she notices this guy figuring something out. But before he can say anything, Varian suddenly fires a fire bolt from his slingshot which hits and causes some damage onto Maui

Rapunzel then glares at Varian. The same protective glare she gave to Flynn “Varian!”

“What?”

Maui suddenly turns to Varian “Wait a minute.” He stares at the halfling for a second. Seeming to almost not believe the strange circumstances of him traveling with her. 

But while he does Raps manages to break free of the grip of the vines. She tries her attack again as she slashes her sword at him, glowing with radiant energy. It hits but doesn’t do much to him. The slashing damage clearly hurt, but the radiant damage, almost nothing. “What? How? That was Divine Smite.”

“You are a Lawbreaker aren’t you?”

Raps grits her teeth. The look of her face is first time Varian’s seen a look of ‘Holy Crap’ on her face. At this point Raps uses her wings to disengage and fly straight away. Her crew does the same, following her.

But Maui just stands there as he lets the pirates run off. Moana goes to chase after, huge smirk on her face. But Maui just grabs her.

“What are you doing?”

“We need to talk”

~

“You let her run off?” Moana glares at Maui back on her ship 

“Look, kid, it isn’t that simple. Sundrop is not your normal pirate.” 

“What do you mean? She’s the bad guy either way.” 

Maui takes a deep breath. He was already sitting down, taking time to think. “I’m not so sure.”

Maui being so quiet and not reckless about something only made Moana more on edge. He wasn’t telling her something important. “She’s a Pirate! She steals things, she’s killed people.”

Maui got up, giving a stern look to the stubborn friend of his. “And do you think everyone who’s stolen anything or killed anything is bad? What about me?”

He was referencing the Heart of Te Fiti. The two of them first met when she rescued him from an island he got trapped on after stealing an accent artifact. But to her, his reasoning was understandable. Even if the action itself was wrong.

Moana stammered a bit “What? No... I... I’m sorry, I didn’t mean... Look, I get why you did what you did. And you made up for stealing the heart.” 

“It’s fine. I know what you meant. But back then I was technically a criminal, even if I wasn’t branded as one. And yet, you believed in me.”

“But you’re not her. I mean...” Moana was getting tired of being so frantic. She took a deep breath and looked at him seriously “just please explain this to me. I don’t understand.”

“Sundrop Rapunzel is a Paladin.” He began “And an Aasimar, just like me.”

“What? How? She’s a criminal? What god would approve of this?”

“Plenty. But that's where the Lawbreaker abilities come in. Lawbreakers are bound by an oath to protect those deemed as undesirable or mistreated.”

“So?” She crosses her arms

“They see their holy quest as a mission against society. They’re basically holy anarchists in a way. They can be great heroes, or true villains.”

Moana was starting to get it in a way. Things Rapunzel had said to her in her mocking, she had often avoided killing others, and the most violent thing she saw her do was an absolute bluff. “So...”

“That woman may be either our greatest ally or our greatest enemy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NPC Maui  
> Race: Aasimar  
> Class: Druid (Circle of the Shepard)  
> Alignment: NG  
> Deity: Melora
> 
> STR: 18  
> DEX: 12  
> CON: 16  
> INT: 13  
> WIS: 19  
> CHA: 16


	6. A Paladin’s Quest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rapunzel struggles with her recent lost and how that might affect her crew.

Lance had set up Leomund’s Tiny Hut in the woods and inside, despite the nice feel of the space, Rapunzel wasn’t having a good time. While the others were at the table playing a board game, Raps was on a chair to the side. Flynn suddenly goes over to her.

“Come on Blondie, game nights were your idea. You’re not one to miss out on team bonding.”

She looked up at him, giving him a half-hearted smile, trying to appear okay “Thanks. It’s just that I’m too cold.”

“Bullshit. Then you’d be by the fire with us.”

She took a deep breath, “Fine, you got me. I’m upset about the fight.”

He sat next to her “Hey, you’re not used to losing like that. I get it. It rarely happens to either of us. Though you were not the one I’d expect to take it so hard.”

“If I can't protect you guys then what kind of captain am I?”

He holds her hands and smiles comfortingly at her “A damn amazing one. But because you lead us as a team. You don’t have to carry your whole crusade on your shoulders, that’s why you have us.” 

She smiled back. Taking a second to consider his words and once she has, she quickly kisses him “How did I get so lucky to be your captain.”

“You nearly killed my last captain.”

She giggled “True... but she had it coming.”

He chuckled back “I won’t argue with that.”

“Thank you.” She rests her head against his shoulder “Though I am actually cold.”

Flynn suddenly smirks “I think I have a solution. Get your bathing suit, we’re going for a swim.”

~

Flynn had led Rapunzel to section of the woods she had yet to see. She had some swimming clothes on underneath other clothes. He hid something from her behind a bunch of leaves. And she was super confused as he went up to what appeared to be useless brush

“How is this supposed to help, Flynn?”

He just smirks and pushes the leaves to the side “Tada!” He shows her a beautiful hot spring right near a waterfall.

“How did you?”

“Don’t worry, me and Lance tested it out earlier.”

She didn’t need to be told twice. She already had her upper layer off and she got in quickly. It was so nice. “You’re the best.”

He gets in immediately after “Anything to keep you happy” he smirked at her. He sat a little bit away from her. Not too far. Close enough to be able to reach each other. She wondered why he was so far.

She chuckles “Oh rely?” She leaned her arms back and let her legs wander a bit

“Yea. You know I’m happiest when you’re happy.” He said as he slowly reached his hands towards her feet, managing to not have her see. Rogues were sneaky like that.

“You don’t need to treat me like your captain at times like this, you know. You don’t need to constantly please me.” She said but just as she did his hands reached her feet and she felt him start massaging. And damn was he good at it. “Nevermind. Nevermind” she was almost in a moan already “Keep doing what you’re doing” 

“See. I know my Captain way to well.”

“Don’t rub it in. Rub them.”

~

Varian places his cards down yet again. To the surprise of both Cass and Lance, Varian was good at any gambling game they gave him. 

“And you win again.” Lance states

“Yes!”

“Impressive kid.” Cass pat him on the back

That made him a bit suspicious “You’re not letting me win are you?”

“Nope.” Lance quickly states “I’m cheating and somehow you still win.”

“I knew it!” Cass called out

Lance rolled his eyes “Oh it’s not like I hide it. You guys know me well enough.”

“Either way, maybe we shouldn’t play something that requires too much...”

Varian smirks “intelligence” it was the thing that he very clearly excelled in and these two, well they couldn’t stand to him in that regard.

Lance nods “Exactly... Wait...”

“Where is the captain and Flynn. I feel like they should be back by...” Varian’s train of thought is hanted when he notices the smirk on Cass and Lance’s faces. As if he was an innocent child. “Ohhh. I see what there up to.” Very clearly they were making out

“All the intelligence in the world but your wisdom could use work huh?” Cass teased. Varian blushes, realizing he had that comment coming.

“Honestly the captain really needs that time with her boyfriend right now. Raps is super stressed after that fight.” Lance points out

“She not used to that rough of a fight?”

“She's not used to losing.” Cass corrects “She takes her holy quest very seriously.”

“What Exactly is that quest?”

“No clue. I know it has something to do with that book you were reading.” Cass states 

“Yea. She keeps a lot of information about it to herself.” Lance adds

The book of Azoth. The more he learns about her, the more curious she becomes. He likes her, he knows that much. She’s a good person to have as a friend. But he still felt like he should know more about her. He didn’t yet trust her. “You think what she’s feeling is a bruised ego?”

Cass shrugs “Maybe a bit. But I can never really tell what’s going through that mind of hers.”

More questions he had. He really hoped he wasn’t being too nosey. “Curious question, do we happen to know what Oath she took?” He knew a good amount about paladin’s. Holy warriors who upheld an oath, and who served a god. They each took an Oath, and there were several different types to take.

His dad took the Oath of the Crown. 

“Oath of Vengeance. She’s a dark knight.” A dark knight referred to paladins who took the Oath of Vengeance 

“Do we know what deity she worships?”

Lance chuckles “I knew her before she even made her oath and I have no clue. She has a secret room in her quarters that none of us have been in besides her, so we assume that has something to do with it.”

“Honestly not convinced that Flynn hasn’t seen it. I think he knows the floor of that room pretty well.” Cass comments

“She's saying they make out there.” Lance tells him, as if he didn’t already figure that out. 

“Yea I caught that.”

~

It had been a bit since they got in the hot spring. Flynn seemed to be distracted at the moment and two were just enjoying each others presence.

Though things were still weighing on Rapunzel. She could not stay in silence right now. Her mind had to be distracted or else she would keep thinking about how she failed in that fight. She would’ve failed to protect her crew. She gets up and out of the water, getting some dry clothes on. When suddenly he grabs her wrist. 

“Where are you going?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“Are you still after that treasure?”

She had forgotten about that treasure. “I don’t know. I only want it for the monetary value and well, right now I care about a lot more than money.”

“So one guy happened to defeat you in combat. It’s not the end of the world.”

“What if it was? That man represents what we’re fighting against. And I wasn’t ready!”

She was facing away from him and he puts an arm on her shoulder gently “Just come back in the spring, you need to relax.”

She suddenly turns around and yells “No!” He pulls back slightly and she sighs, instantly regretting that “I’m sorry. I’m just... I need to train.”

“Don’t Tell me you’re becoming Cass.”

She giggles “No. But... it’s just what’s going through my mind at the moment.

Flynn sighs “Fine, but don’t do anything reckless tonight, Okay?”

“Okay I promise” she goes to leave but quickly feels his chest before she goes. He had his shirt off. She had to at least feel it once. “Wait for me in Lance’s cabin. If I’m back before morning we can have some fun. Okay?”

“Yes captain” he smiles softly and chuckles

~

She was going to go train, but as she goes to find some type of good training ground she suddenly she hears a voice in the woods. Someone else's training.

The voice was Moana’s “I don’t see why we can’t go after her. She retreated, we won the fight now it’s time to win the war.”

Maui’s voice replied back “Kid, you haven’t even begun to see war. What you two have is a squabble at best.”

“Then allow me to end it.”

“No.”

Rapunzel decides she has heard enough, gets an idea, and heads off

Moana gives an annoyed groan “Then Tell me why I can’t.”

Maui takes a deep breath “Okay fine. You remember the reign of the pirate king right?”

“Yes of course. I wasn’t alive for it but I know of it. You’ve told me a few times about it too. But he disappeared.”

“Right. But it’s a bit more complicated than that. Before he disappeared he had a child, a daughter, and she was taken from him. We’ve been referring to her as the Lost Pirate Princess since. “

It was starting to click in her brain “So you mean to tell me...”

“If my theory is correct, Sundrop Rapunzel is probably the Pirate Princess.”

“That’s... that’s a lot.”

“I understand if you need some time alone to think about this. But it’s important that she not be brought in. At least not yet.”

“I don’t get it. You’re finally taking something seriously and it’s THIS. What else aren’t you telling me?” She says to him, clearly annoyed

“Not much else. I just... I should leave you be.” He says and he goes to leave.

As he goes she quickly stops him, grabbing his wrist “Yea... but Maui? Thanks. You didn’t need to tell me but you did.”

“We’re friends. I don’t wanna keep secrets from you.”

~

Rapunzel didn’t go train. She didn’t lie to Flynn, she just changed her mind at the last minute. She didn’t think it was reckless when she decided to do it but she found herself prepared to sneak aboard Moana’s ship. 

She wasn’t spotted. And she manages to go through plenty of rooms undetected until she happens upon Maui’s room. Or at least, where he was staying for the time being. This man knew too much already. She had to know what he knew and what the damage was. You couldn’t trust a marine and if he could figure her out that’d be bad.

That’s when she noticed the recently written letter on the desk. She carefully began to read

“Dear Vice-Admiral,

I bring you word on the Alchemist. The rumors are true that he has joined the Sunspark Crew. And it appears as though the captain of the vessel also happens to be the Pirate Princess of legend that we have been searching for. I understand the complicated situation you find yourself in with this news, but it seems as though the Alchemist is under her control of his own accord and that he is friends with her. He appears to have situated well. At your word, we are ready to confront Sundrop and the Alchemist about their crimes and bring them in if necessary. 

Signed, General Maui”

She grit her teeth. Of course his main target was Varian. She wasn’t going to let that happen. No way would they take a crew member from her. “No way am I having that.” She went to rip the paper into pieces

“I wouldn’t if I were you.” It was Maui’s voice. She wasn’t fast enough. Raps turns around sword at the ready but Maui has his hands up “I’m not going to fight right now.”

“You’re not?”

“I understand that whatever conflict we may have is not black and white. Pirates are criminals, but not all criminals are bad people.”

She lets go of her sword but is still on guard “Okay, I’ll bite. Aren’t you close chums with the girl who’s been hunting me down.”

“I owe Moana a good amount. And she is a close friend. But she’s also inexperienced. She doesn’t understand the motives of her enemies yet.”

This gets a smirk out of Rapunzel “And here I thought you were a cocky show-off.”

This gets a smirk from him too “Oh I am. But I’m also someone who fights for the good of the world. I’m an Aasimar too, you know.”

“You are?” She suddenly looked at him shocked. “I don’t think I’ve met another.”

“We’re rare. Me... you... your father”

Her father. He knew her father? “What?”

“You’re the daughter of the pirate king, are you not?”

“How did you...?”

“Not only are you an Aasimar, you’re a Lawbreaker. Just like him.”

She used her Lawbreaker armor around him. It should not have been a surprise that SOMEONE caught on “Touché.”

“Now if you excuse me, I’m going to need that letter.”

She holds it back. She still had leverage. This may not be a fight but he was still her enemy. Even if he didn’t seem like it. “The pirate princess? What do you mean by that?”

“It's the name we’ve been using to refer to you. We knew Fredric had a daughter and to keep a look out for her. It’s a message stating that I found her.”

“Well pardon me that i prefer to keep that fact a secret.” She spat back annoyed

“That letter isn’t just about you.”

“Varian.” She remembered the letter and it suddenly made her upset. “You can’t have him. I know you people want him alive but I don’t care. He’s part of MY crew. He’s mine.” Maybe it was wrong to be so possessive, but she needs him, and she wants to protect him.

“You don’t know why he’s wanted alive do you?” He asks calmly

“Of course. He knows alchemist’s tongue. You need him as much as I do.”

“No. It’s because he’s the vice admiral’s son.”

She suddenly calms down a bit “Wha...?” She looks to the letter. Suddenly looking at the wording. How it specifically stated that Varian was her friend and that he was there of his own accord “You were telling his dad that he’s okay.” She realizes

Maui talked to her with careful words. “Yea. He’s worried about him. That’s why I need that letter.”

She took a deep sigh. She wanted to keep her new friend by her side and she hated the marines and the empire. But she couldn’t in all conscious deny a father a chance to know that his son is safe. She would never hurt Varian and the idea that his father might be worried about that is... unsettling.

“Fine... but you have to promise you’re not going to try and take him from us.”

“Thats Varian’s decision. If he wants to stay with you, I’m not going to stop him.”

“And you’re not going to go after us?”

“The marine’s need you alive. Now that we know who you are, we can’t afford to have you perish.”

They needed her. How come that seemed to piss her off? She had leverage. Several. But she had leverage because she is leverage probably. They just want to lure out her dad. She was sure of it.

“I don’t trust you.” She stated, just to say it. 

“Of course you don’t. You’re a Lawbreaker. I’m only alerting the vice admiral of who you are. You can discuss with him who he tells.”

“How the hell am I supposed to do that?”

“He’ll find you. Trust me. If you stay here on this island for a bit I can promise that no harm will come to you or your crew. But you have to give me that letter.”

It was tempting. Knowing that there was no way they’d be hurt. She sighs “Okay” She hands him the letter

“Thank you.” He smiles at her. A genuine smile. “But, just so you know, I could have just written another letter had you destroyed that one.”

Rapunzel suddenly feels ridiculous that she hadn’t realized that “I’m gonna go.”

~

The next morning Varian had requested that he show Rapunzel something. And well, he had such an excitement in his eyes. Like he was a kid asking for an older siblings approval and praise. She couldn’t say no.

There was a beach nearby with a bunch of big rocks. The type that would be perfect for climbing and jumping on.

“What did you want to show me Varian?”

“Tada!” He has taken her to the biggest boulder of the bunch. And on it was a huge painted symbol of her Jolly Roger. A Chameleon Skull in pink and yellow. He gave her a bright smile “How do you like Captain?”

She smiled wide quickly. This wasn’t just an art project. Varian was showing his loyalty. He was the one who drew this. It was clear that he was starting to consider himself part of the crew. “Aww. Varian. Thank you.” She quickly picks up the Halfling and wraps him in a bear hug. Trying her best to not crush him with her strength

“That's the kind of things friends do right?” He said a little shaken from lack of air. She let him down quickly after “I was thinking we could do some more art. These rocks are a fun spot.”

“Sure” Varian gets out the paints supplies and they share in the fun of painting rocks. It doesn’t take long for Raps to be curious though “Quick question. Can you tell me about your dad?”

He gives her an odd look “You sure? He’s a high ranking marine official.”

“I wanna hear. I may not be a fan of marine’s but I am your friend and I wanna know. Especially since you seem to care a lot about him.”

“Yea Okay.” He turned back to what he was painting as he began to explain “My dad is very supportive and a good man, if not slightly strict. He wanted me to be a marine admiral like him. He tried to train me in that, then learned my skills in sniping. But he quickly saw that I was unhappy. So he sent me to the library because he knew I am a bookworm.”

“He didn’t pressure you, huh?”

“Yea. He was very patient with me. And I mean VERY. I wasn’t very good at allot.”

“Sounds like a lovely man.” She was being fairly honest. If only he wasn’t a marine. “It’s funny, you knew your father growing up and you never wanted to be like him, though I never met mine and yet, somehow I want to be just like him.”

“Yea. I guess so. What was yours like? Do you know? Aside from adventurer.”

“He was a pirate Paladin. Just like me. Though he chose a different path than I did.”

“You’re Oath of Vengeance right? You’re often referred to as a dark knight or an avenger.”

She chuckles. The name dark knight sounded right weirdly enough. Not by people who first met her, but those who got to know her. “Yea. Very good. My dad however was Oath of Devotion. Or they can be called white knights, cavaliers, or holy warriors.”

“Why the different oath?”

“I’m fighting back. My mission is to weed out the corrupted. Vengeance for the innocent.”

“Even at the cost of your own morals?” He stopped painting to ask her.

She paused. She had thought of that before. She didn’t think it would happen. But she was aware of the possibility “Maybe. But I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

She was tempted to tell him that his dad was looking for him. That he was worried. But there were a few problems with that. She knew Vice Admiral Quirin famously was the arch enemy of her father. So she knew that not only would the man not be fond of her, but if she were to try to take this halfling general on, she would surely lose. But more than that she was afraid he’d take Varian away from her. She couldn’t tell why she was so fond of Varian, she had barely known the boy for two weeks. But he was kind, looked up to her, and she always wanted that kind of a person. Like a little brother. But more than that, he was needed. She needed him in order for any of her plans to be achieved. She would never complete her quest, she’d be going against her oath. Or as far as she knew, that was the case.

So she let it be. And just enjoyed the time with him instead.


	7. The Elenclave Cave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sunspark Pirates venture into the caves of Elenclave. But they have to team up with an unsure ally to guide them through.

Rapunzel woke up the next morning as the last one out to the common area. They were all awake except for Varian who was still retreating into a corner to drink his coffee. “Rise and shine everyone, time to look for some treasure”

Cass smirked “Glad to see someone’s feeling better”.

She shrugs, “I’ve been better, but I’ve been worse.”

“Better is good. I’m glad.” Flynn adds

Rapunzel walks over to the halfling and ruffles his hair. “You can all thank Varian for that.”

“Huh?” He wasn’t paying attention. Too tired and still drinking coffee.

Raps giggles “I keep forgetting that you’re not a morning person. We’re heading into the mountains.”

“What? Why?”

“Treasure, silly. We are pirates after all.” She says playfully. In all honesty she wanted the distraction. And getting the Elenclave treasure would make sure that money wasn’t a problem for a while. 

“Oh yes. That money is all ours.” Lance cheered. He was always the one who appreciated coin the most.

Raps suddenly turns to Max “Max, I need you, Pascal, and Ruddiger To keep an eye on Moana’s crew. Make sure they don’t make it to the cave. Also, make sure these two don’t get into any trouble.”

Max solutes and gives the other two animals a suspicious look

~

Moana took a deep breath as she entered Maui’s room “I thought about what you said.”

He was sitting in his bed, bored, tossing a ball up in the air. He immediately turns to her interested “And?”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but I think you’re right. I’m willing to give her a chance.” She states “I don’t think she’s a bad person. She has some demons I’m sure. But nothing that can’t be fixed. If they survive that cave then maybe they can be of use.”

Maui was suddenly at attention “The cave? You mean the Elenclave Cave? You think she’s going to go in?”

“She’s a Pirate, of course she is. There’s treasure.”

“That’s problematic.”

“What? Why?”

~

The five humanoids in the crew had made it to the entrance of the Elenclave Cave. “Alright here we are. The cave’s entrance. I can’t wait to see what we got here.” The captain grins a big grin. 

But that’s about when Maui and Moana arrive. Maui carrying Moana as a giant hawk and when they land Maui’s form turns back into himself. 

“Wait! Don’t go in there!” Maui yells in concern

“What? Why not?” Lance was the first to speak. He REALLY wanted that treasure.

“You don’t understand what’s in there.”

“And why should we trust you?” Cass says, arms folded

“Because I’m one of the ones who built that cave. There’s a powerful enchantment on it.” Maui states

“Not good enough.” Flynn states, “You just don’t want us finding the treasure.”

Maui immediately turns to Rapunzel “You have to believe me, right Sundrop?”

The captain debated about this for a second. She hadn’t revealed to her crew what went down the previous night and she had no intention to. 

Moana took a deep breath and decided to speak up “Look Sundrop, Just trust us okay. I realize that I MAY be wrong about you.”

That was all the confirmation she needed. Moana would never be nice to her. She suddenly smirks. “Yea no. I’m not giving you the satisfaction. Come on let’s go.”

The pirates begin their descent into the cave 

“I said STOP!” Moana calls out before they can get away from sight. And suddenly an aura of blue energy admits from her hand, a spell, that surrounds Rapunzel and then suddenly disappears. 

Rapunzel recognizes the spell that was just placed on her. A Hunter’s Mark. Her smirk was still on her face “Hunters Mark Huh? Fine then.” Raps suddenly does the same thing to Moana, but instead of blue, her aura is black and pink “Don’t follow us.” She takes her frying pan and slams it into the wall causing rocks to fall, closing off the entrance with the Pirates inside

“No!” Moana calls out

~

Meanwhile on the other side of the walls, the other pirates weren’t so happy with that “Raps! What the hell was that? Now we’re trapped.” Cassandra said annoyed

Raps shrugs “No we aren’t. They can break through. I just bought us some time.” She sticks her frying pan out and it starts to glow. So that the creatures without darkvision can see “Let’s go find that treasure.”

~

“What now?” Moana asked

“I created these tunnels. I can open the entrance. Just give me a few minutes. Keep the hunters mark up.”

~

As the pirates explore the cave they suddenly stop as Flynn notices something “Do you hear that?” They all go quiet and they can hear some voices talking. “Any ideas what they are saying?”

Varian nods “It’s Draconic. I can understand.” They go quiet and Varian listens in “Whoever is there happened to notice us. They just stated that they heard the tunnel collapse.”

Lance gulps “Can’t be good.”

Just then they immediately see several crazy looking beasts come down the hall. What would really be described by big, walking, muscular Axolotls. They speak something in Draconic and Varian backs up. Varian says something back in Draconic and they respond. But afterwards they get their spears out and begin to charge at them. 

“They aren’t friendly.” Varian backs behind the rest of his friend and gets ready to fire his alchemy balls. The others follow by getting their weapons out 

“What the hell are they?”

“Troglodytes.” Flynn answered

“What? How do you...?”

“I know a lot about underdark creatures.”

“Of course you do.” Raps rolls her eyes a bit

~

Meanwhile Moana and Maui find themselves in a different part of the cave. 

“We’re not going the right way.” Moana complains

Maui sighs “I know. The caves in this system are designed to leave out intruders. That's why we used these caves.

“I am so confused. Is that why my Hunter’s Mark is all messed up?” 

“Yea. “

Suddenly out of nowhere a huge insect-like Beast appears in front of them. Maui notices it and immediately looks away.

“What is that?” Moans states staring at it

“An Umber Hulk. Don’t look directly at it.” But it’s too late and Moana suddenly seems hypnotized. She suddenly swings at Maui who dodges. “Crap.”

Moana suddenly gets out of the trance and realizes what happened. She gets out her bow and without looking shoots a hail of thorns at it which hits. “Sorry about that.”

“Even if you hit, you’re not going to do much to hurt me in that department.” Maui smirks at her and flexes a bit

“Don’t make me hit you again.” She then comes up with something “Wait... I have an idea.” Moana suddenly creates a fog cloud. One that makes sure they can’t see the creature.

“Way to go!” 

~

Meanwhile Raps and her crew have defeated their foes and are taking a quick breath. 

“Easier than I expected.” Varian chuckles “Not a scratch on me.”

“True but it slowed us down.” Cass looks to the captain “Is Moana nearby?”

Rapunzel takes a second to think but nothing comes up “My Hunter’s Mark is not working.” She grits her teeth in annoyance. “I don’t know why.”

“Well that probably means that she can’t sense us either.”

She nods “True. I could use my Divine Sense to know if Maui is around. Since he is an Aasimar. I don’t know if it works like that but I can try.”

“Your choice Cap.” Lance shrugs

“Yea. I’ll go for it.” She does so and gets a reading “He’s in a different part of the cave then I expected. I’m so confused by this cave.”

Varian quickly realizes “Because it’s moving. Maui said the place was enchanted.”

“Which means if we want to find this treasure and get out alive we’ll have to find him.” Flynn states

“Fine... but only because we have to.”

~

They arrive just as the Umber Hulk is about to attack Moana. Suddenly it’s hit hard with Rapunzel’s frying pan, and it suddenly is ignited in flames due to her Searing Smite spell. 

Moana, who’s currently on the ground, looks up at Raps awkwardly “Um... thanks...”

She looks down at her without much of an expression “You meant what you said?”

“Maybe.”

The pirate shrugs “Good enough. Cass?”

“Got it” Cass’s sword lights in flame and she finishes the Umber Hulk in a few slashes. And suddenly the fog cloud Moana called disappears 

“Thanks for the assist.” Maui smiles

“Don’t thank us yet. What’s up with this cave? Explain now.” 

Maui nods “It was designed to seal up a dangerous beast. One referred to as Tomatoa. The one who hoards the treasure you seek.”

Lance chimes in “What’s so special about the Tumatotta or however it’s called.”

“It’s a long story. What you need to know is that I know the way around the enchantment. So I can take us out so you don’t get yourselves killed.”

“But... hear me out...” Lance begins “What if we want the treasure?”

“You can’t. I couldn’t beat him years ago, so instead I trapped him in this cave. Banishing him to his own pocket dimension. You’d need me there to even get you to it.”

Cass steps forward threateningly “Then we’ll have to bring you with us.”

Flynn does the same “You’re ashamed of that loss aren’t you?”

“It’s one that I don’t like talking about. Yes. It’s why people don’t know I was involved.”

Rapunzel suddenly smirks “How about this? We help you slay this beast, free your conscience a bit. In return, we keep the treasure.”

Moana, now up, is clearly annoyed “See! What did I say! They only care about the money.”

“Fine. Deal.”

Raps smirks and wraps an arm around Maui, as best she can, not being tall enough to reach his opposite shoulder “Excellent. We can walk and talk. Let’s come up with a plan.”

~

They soon get to a pedestal with a stone on it. Maui goes up to it, ready to cast a spell “Okay. This stone is the way I can get us there. Are we sure we have the plan.”

Rapunzel smirks “Lance goes in there, uses his bardic abilities to plant subconscious doubt in the monster. Then we attack while it’s defenses are down.”

Maui smirks “Sending your charismatic bard down there first. Clever play.”

~

“Tomatoa!” Lance Strongbow calls out as confronts a huge scorpion. His allies were hiding behind nearby boulders

The monster immediately went up to him. Lance had failed to realize just how massive this thing is. He almost gulped but he held himself back.

“Why hello there. Look at you, young adventurer. You want my treasure or you care to be my meal? Either way, I can only grant you the latter.” He licked his lips

“I’m here to make a deal actually.”

“A deal? With me?”

Lance nods “Yes. I can get you out of here. Hey you a chance to seek your revenge. On the legendary Aasimar Druid Maui.”

Tomatoa cocked his head curiously “And What do you ask in return?”

“A portion, just a portion of the treasure you’ve collected.”

There’s a smirk on the creatures face “You know how I even have my treasure?”

“No. Enlighten me.”

He motions to the setting “This pocket dimension we find ourselves in, well I designed it myself. In order to collect whatever treasure or school of fish happens to wander too far down in the nearby waters. Maui was the one who made sure I couldn’t escape it. Yet I get food, I have my treasure. I’m more than content.”

Lance suddenly goes to leave, realizing his plan wasn’t working, “I see. Well then it appears I must go then.”

“Not so fast. You see your arrival brings something that I haven’t had for a while to me.”

“And that might be?”

“Human meat.” Tomatoa goes to attack but suddenly Lance speaks a spell under his breath and the beast stopped in its tracks. “Dissident Whispers”

“Ah!” The Beast suddenly closes his head off, as if a harsh sound was affecting it. One that no other being could hear.

“Now!” Raps yells as her and Moana both run out into the battlefield and cast Hunter’s Mark.

“No! This is a trap!”

Lance smirks “Bingo! Stay behind me ladies, he won’t go near me.” 

Moans nods “Sure thing.”

“Nice try but no.” Rapunzel smirks and runs past Lance and pulls out her sword and her armor appears. “Ah!”

Flynn runs up behind and also attacks with his shortsword. And Cass attacks with her longswords.

Still hidden, Maui is about to go out to fight, but Varian stops him a second. “Wait... before you go.” He grabs his fishhook and casts something on it real quick. Arcane Weapon. The weapon suddenly appears to be giving off a purple energy. “It deals extra poison damage now. A bit of a boost.”

Maui smiles kindly “Your father was right. Your gifts are incredible.”

“Thank you” the mention of his father got Varian a little flushed. He had been thinking about him alot lately. But now isn’t the time. He’s in a battle.

Maui puts an arm on his shoulder “Stay here. Stay safe. Your dad would kill me if I got you dead.” He winks and then turns into a hawk and flies off. He flies on top of Tomatoa and releases his form to drop down slam his fish hook into him “Remember me big guy?”

“You!” Tomatoa tries to throw him off but Maui keeps on tight. Laughing the whole time.

Moana grins “Now THAT’S the Maui I know”

Rapunzel watches on is amazement “That’s SO COOL.”

“That’s ENOUGH!” The beast spins around managing to hit all of them with its claws. Except for Varian who kept back at Maui’s request. It even knocks Maui off of Tomatoa and his fish hook is suddenly several feet away. “You can’t defeat me. I’m too powerful.”

They slowly start to get up and Varian suddenly shows himself. “I doubt it.” He takes his slingshot and fires a purple ball at him. It hits and emmets a cloud of purple gas that Tomatoa takes in and starts couch crazily. Poison Spray. 

“Ha! Glad that’s not happening to me this time.” Moana unhooks her bow and fires several flame arrows and the others keep attacking

Tomatoa quickly notices that Moana is doing a lot of damage, and he aims his claws towards her. It hits and sends her back, crashing to the wall hurt. 

“Moana!!” Maui goes to run to her for aid

Tomatoa smirks “Friend of yours?” He goes to attack again

This time it’s Raps who notices “No you don’t!” Suddenly the black energy surrounding Tomatoa turns to white and moves over to Moana. Making her shine. Sheild of Faith. And as Tomatoa attacks he recoils from the light and misses. He is suddenly hit with a Divine Smite from Raps

“You just saved me.” Moana gets up and looks at Raps who’s right in front of her

“Yea. I did. I don’t want you dead, you know. Like I said, you need to get your prejudices in order” She winks at her

“Thank you.”

Meanwhile Maui has done Earthbind. Which has surrounded Tomatoa in magical vines and is currently holding him down. He turns to Moana “Take the shots.”

Moana listens and fires more flaming arrows that clearly hurt him, and he’s looking really rough. But Tomatoa gets angry and manages to burst out of the Earthbind.

“No! This ends now you accursed Druid.” He suddenly charges at Maui

Maui only smirks as he does “I couldn’t agree more.” Suddenly his fishhook lights in flames, and it still had the poison damage Varian gave him, and as Tomatoa gets close, Maui jumps and slams the fishhook into his head and crashing Tomatoa to the ground. His eyes roll back in his head, their foe defeated.

Maui stands there in shock for a couple of seconds. “Woah.”

“My fellow Aasimar!” Raps excitedly wraps him in a bear hug. Unlike most people she can’t actually lift him, but it’s clear he still feels the squeeze. “That was so cool.”

The rest of her crew is looking at Raps like she’s crazy.

“I thought you said you didn’t like marines.” Varian points out

Rapunzel suddenly notices the stares of her crew and feels awkward. “Well, he’s an exception.”

“He just kicked your ass... like yesterday.” Cass points out

Rapunzel sighs “Well. Okay I didn’t explain this to you, but I met up with him last night. And we talked for a bit. He’s an okay guy.”

Moana crosses her arms a bit “You didn’t act like that earlier today. You know, closing the entrance and all.”

“Doesn’t mean I trust either of you! I just... I think you’re both pretty cool.” He reluctantly admits

Moana giggles a bit “I may just have been wrong about you too.”

Maui nods “Thank you Rapunzel.”

Flynn steps in just to be safe for a second “So... no arresting?”

Maui looks to Raps who gives him a ‘Please Don’t Tell’ look. “Not from me.” He suddenly turns to Raps “You know, not all marines are corrupt like you think”

“Yea. Have you ever thought that YOU have some prejudices of your own.” Moana smirks 

“I... ah...” Rapunzel stammers a bit. She hadn’t considered that. Not until recently. And now she has been, she’s starting to feel guilty “I’ve recently been realizing that.”

“Willing to notice wrong behavior and changing it. That’s the mark of a good leader.” Maui smiles at her 

“Thank you.”

“We’ll be staying on the island for a bit. If you need anything from us, don’t be afraid to ask. Enjoy the treasure.” Maui says as he exits followed by Moana. 

“You heard the man. Let’s go! Get the treasure in the bag of holding and we can bring it onto the ship.” Raps calls out

“You don’t need to tell me twice!” Lance calls out, already in the middle of doing that. He hadn’t been paying attention to the previous conversation at all

~

Later that night Raps is in her captain’s quarter’s. Flynn enters to see Raps at her desk, thinking.

“Hey, Captain. You wanted me?” He smirks, “How can I be of service.” He goes to take off his shirt but he notices her deep in thought. He stops, realizing that maybe this visit wasn’t for what he thought it was for “Are you Okay?”

Rapunzel sighs “No. “Just... allot of thinking.”

“Why do you need me? 

“I really appreciate your advice.”

“I see.” Flynn smiles softly and sits on the chair on the other side of her desk “Well if this about the marine thing, I kind of agree with them that not all of them suck. Just a majority.”

Rapunzel nods “Thanks, but that’s not it. When I talked to Maui last night, he was sending a letter to the vice admiral. About who I am and that Varian was willingly on my crew.” She found herself too anxious to sit down so she got up and started to pace

“Oh shit” Flynn quickly realized how bad that could be 

“Yea. I was going to crush the letter but, the vice admiral. That’s Varian’s dad. And he’s looking for him.”

This changed Flynn’s opinion about that “That’d be good right? To have him as an ally. If his son likes us maybe he will too.”

“Or he will take him away from us!” She looked back to him with a worried expression “Varian respects him very much and if HE tells him that I’m a bad person, than all of the respect I’ve worked to gain from him will be lost.”

There’s an awkward silence. Flynn was really the only other person who knew what that meant to her he spoke back up when he felt it was appropriate “And what if that happens?”

“I need him on this ship. But I want it to be willing.” Raps says as she leans on the wall, almost hiding her face “But if it can’t be...”

This is where Flynn got up. Not exactly liking what she’s saying, “You’re suggesting be keep him here against his will.”

“Only if absolutely necessary.” She quickly goes to defend herself “And we’d of course let him go once he read the book for us. I’ve been thinking a lot about this.”

“Maybe we should just let him go. They’ll be others who know alchemist’s tongue. If he wants to of course.” 

“I don’t know. I don’t want to deny him his chance to see his father but I don’t want him to leave us.”

“If you want my opinion. Then...” He believed it was probably a possibility that they could keep him from wanting to leave anyway. “Maybe it’s best for everyone that he doesn’t know. Maybe not yet.” The less he knew about his dad looking for him, the less likely he’d want to leave and could avoid the ugliness.

“That’s what I was thinking. Much more civil. The vice admiral is coming here, but we can’t be here when he gets here. Flynn, Mark our course to Pirate’s Paradise. We’re going to visit some old friends.”


	8. The Inventor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew stumbles upon what appears to be an abandoned ship. Rapunzel and Varian explore it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Mystery Continues. This is a big chapter.

Rapunzel finds herself on an unfamiliar ship, surrounded by an unfamiliar sea. The water around tainted with blood. She could see bodies all around her feet. Slain. And her the very clear murderer. 

Vengeance. That’s all she could think about.

She took a look at the ship. Full of crazy technology. Things even she couldn’t understand. But still felt familiar nonetheless. The only familiar thing on the boat. 

She heard a voice coming from the sea. “You can avenge them. Remember what you’re fighting for.” She nods. It was their fault. They did this to her. This was their burden to pay and they’d die baring it.

She gave a look to her left. The entrance to the inner layers of the ship. And a figure watching her from it. A familiar small humanoid in a familiar mask. She’s never seen the figure behind the mask but she knew the mask well. The mask of the Inventor. 

Before much else could be said she had the figure by the throat and was lifting its tiny frame. She slammed it into the wall mercilessly. Her hold on the throat tightened and the figure began to choke. A feeling that wasn’t unfamiliar to her. She used to revel in it. 

But she couldn’t help it. Curiosity got the better of her murder spree. And she took off the mask. There she saw a familiar face. One of messy black and blue hair and innocent looking blue eyes. She was choking Varian. 

She instantly let go and stumbled back. Varian landed on the ground and grinned at her. And suddenly Rapunzel fell back off the ship into the water.

~

Her eyes jolted awake. “Ah!” She was in the crow’s nest. It was night and they were already at sea. They would be at their destination in a day or two. Only a matter of time. 

She looked around and went down to the deck. Everyone else was asleep. She was alone, a captain, her ship, and the chameleon on her shoulder. “What do I do Pascal?” She groans “Why does being a moral person has to be so hard?” 

She sat on the nearby stairs and hid her face. Pascal gave her a concerned look. “I know I should get sleep. But I think I’ll wait until we get there.”

She sat there waiting and thinking. Pretty certain that she wouldn’t go back to sleep. Pascal laid on on her lab and cuddled in. The heartbeat of the small friend she pet made her drift to sleep faster than she would’ve liked. 

~

She suddenly woke up to Max nudging her. 

“M-Max? What’s wrong? Everything okay?”

“Captain, I need you to come check this out.” She heard Flynn say. 

Rapunzel jumped up and ran to see what they were looking at. The whole crew happened upon what appeared to be an abandoned ship. One still floating and sailing like it wasn’t. “That’s the ship from my dream last night.” She said in surprise.

“Oh great. Not another magic dream.” Flynn rolled his eyes. “Those never end well.”

“D-do you think it’s h-haunted” Lance shivered. He happened to be freaked out by undead. And also spiders. 

“I don’t know.” Rapunzel suddenly sprouted her wings. “But I’m going to check it out.” She suddenly got a look at her crew, looking at her in confusion. The sudden worry on their face. She got a good look at Varian. Her dream was fuzzy but the image of her choking him and his grin was seared into her mind. “Varian, you don’t have to, but do you wanna come with?”

“Oh... sure...” he shrugs 

Several reasons for that. Most of which was that if she kept by her and she saw the Inventor, she’d know that it’s not Varian, and it’s actually someone who is actually on her list.

If all went right, the first name on the list would be crossed off.

~

Raps drops Varian on the ship and he catches himself. She lands besides him gracefully, leaving her wings out for the time being.

Not that he was complaining, but Varian was curious about something “So why bring me along?“

“I have my reasons” She kept it vague. Not wanting to make him distrust her, but also not feeling comfortable with saying why. She begins to look around the ship and Varian follows close by.

“It doesn’t look like anyone’s here.”

Rapunzel goes over to the helm and notices a contraption on it. The wheel is being steered by itself. “This is one of those reasons I was talking about”

Varian gets a good look at it. “This is alchemy. I don’t know how but somehow...” As he inspects it he bumps into what appears to be an invisible person steering “I just figured it out. An Unseen servant. In theory this person probably is using several if he’s getting a ship to work.”

“So people can see us right now?”

“From my understanding, unseen servants are not real people. And probably are just there to do whatever task they’re given.” As far as Varian knew Artificer’s didn’t learn that spell, so he was curious how this person knew it. 

Raps smirks at Varian and nudges “Well I prefer my servants seen. VERY SEEN.” She smirks at her own joke and he doesn’t seem impressed “No?”

“What you and Flynn get up to is none of my business, my friend.” He smirks and explores a bit more leaving her blushing a bit

Varian walks over to the captains quarters and notices a strange symbol on the door. A letter of a language he doesn’t understand? Perhaps. It looks like an eight with a line through it. 

“Varian? What is it...?” Rapunzel checks up on him and notices the symbol. Varian looks at her and she realizes exactly what it is immediately “exactly what I thought.”

“What? What do you mean?”

She takes a deep breath, “I know the man who runs this ship. And you’re right. He is indeed an alchemist.”

“Oh... I didn’t know you knew another.”

“I’m not friendly with him.” She puts her hand on the hilt of her sword “I’m here to end it.”

“Oh...” It takes Varian a second to realize what she meant “OH!”

“You don’t have to stay. This might get ugly.” She immediately felt bad for bringing him. 

“It’s okay. I’ll stay.”

She smiles softly at him “Alright then. Let’s go.”

~

They go inside the captain’s quarters, but no one is there. But Varian notices the notes that are all stapled amongst the walls. “This is alchemist’s tongue.”

“What does it say?”

“They’re a bunch of spells. Complicated and powerful ones too. Ones Alchemist’s aren’t even supposed to know.” He looks around and touches one of the papers and as he does the floor opens up. A trap. And he falls through.

Rapunzel quickly shouts to him “Varian!” It closes before she can get to him. She quickly does the same thing he did to go through as well but doesn’t work. She huffed in annoyance and anger and runs off to search for where it leads him.

~

Varian finds himself landing inside a cell in the brig of the ship. “Oh crap”

He suddenly hears footsteps coming his way. He is confronted by a strange figure. Small. Only slightly taller than Varian’s halfling form. And this man was a gnome, he could tell due to the ears: but his face wasn’t shown under a metallic looking mask. 

The gnome makes it to the cell he’s in and cocks a head at him. Giving him a good long look. He then speaks in a deep voice, probably changed by the mask he’s wearing. “You. You’re the mad alchemist.”

“And Who are you?”

“I have a few names. But you should call me THE INVENTOR.” He said the title loudly for dramatic effect

“So you’re like some form of mad scientist?”

“Pretty much” the Inventor goes into his pocket and pulls out his keys

“What are you going to do with me?” Varian says, but before he’s answered, the Inventor unlocks the cell, letting him out. “You’re an ally?”

“I can see potential. There are things going on that you can’t even begin to comprehend. And you need help. I can provide that.”

Varian is quickly hesitant “Oh? I don’t know. My captain says I shouldn’t trust you.”

“Rapunzel? Yes I’m aware. She’s on the ship isn’t she?”

“Yea. And it seems she really wants you dead.”

The Inventor nods “I see. I think we may be able to avoid bloodshed. Follow me.”

~

The Inventor leads Varian to his lab. “Woah.”

“Nice right.”

Varian takes a look at all of the notes on the wall. Even more than earlier. All in alchemist’s tongue. “So... you know alchemist’s tongue huh?”

“One of the gifts I learned from an old friend.” 

“I guess this language really is a well preserved secret.” He scanned the place. It was rare he got to read something in Alchemist’s Tongue. The only thing he could read it from was the book back in the library.

“You have no clue. And I could let you know whatever you want to know about the craft. You just have to trust me.”

Varian generally considered this for a moment “I don’t know...”

Suddenly the door to the lab is busted down and Rapunzel storms in, already in her armor. Sword by her side, but she doesn’t use it yet. She quickly grabs the Inventor by the neck and slams him into the wall.

Varian, suddenly shocked by this, speaks out “Raps Wait!”

The enraged angled glares at him “What?” Varian gets spooked by the glare and steps back a bit frightened by the glare. And the look on his face instantly snaps her out of the glare and she calms down a bit. “Sorry. What’s wrong?”

“Why is he so bad?”

“I can’t exactly explain.”

“But he was trying to prevent bloodshed. He didn’t want to hurt you.”

“No. Because he needs me alive. You too probably. But we don’t need him.” She gave a glare back to the gnome she had grappled

“So you’re just going to kill him?”

“No. I’m killing him because he’s a bad person. He deserves to perish.”

“He was being nothing but nice.”

“He was trying to fool you! That’s what THEY do?” She hadn’t even realized the word ‘they’ came out

“Who’s THEY?”

It’s at this point where the inventor reaches for his belt and presses a button on it. Suddenly the walls to the lab open and two huge automatons come out and begin to march on the two of them. 

“Oh shit.”

“See, what did I say?” Rapunzel says

Suddenly one of them hits Rapunzel and sends her flying off the inventor. The frightened gnome quickly runs out of the room as the automatons attack.

Varian runs over to Rapunzel, who’s ready to fight “Captain, we’re not winning this. Can we please just go?”

Rapunzel grits her teeth and nods “You’re right. Fine let’s go.” She grabs his hand and rushes off

~

Raps flies Varian back to the ship and as they land the other members of the crew look at them curiously. 

“What happened?” Flynn was the first to be, concerned why the love of his life was so distraught

“I’ll explain later.” She’s clearly not happy, as she passes right through her concerned friends “I’ll be in my quarter’s. Continue the course to Pirate’s Paradise.” And with that she was gone

Flynn nods to the captain. And as Raps leaves he looks to Varian “So kid, how’d it go?”

“It was so weird. I met someone there that she knew and who she wanted to kill. But he didn’t seem that bad and Raps still attacked. And he set two automatons on us for protection and we ran.” Takes a deep breath, collecting his thoughts “He went by the Inventor.”

He nods “I see”

Cass curiously looks to Flynn “Does that sound familiar to you?”

“The name. No. But I have some ideas on what’s going through her head.”

Lance nods “The girl has some real demons.”

“There was a weird symbol on the ship too. An eight with a line crossed through it.” Varian adds, he had no clue what it meant but he wanted to know

“I see. Once we’re good and away I’ll talk to her about it.” Flynn reassures him

The halfling looks down kind of saddened “I think she’s mad at me. I think I stopped her from killing him. I gave him the chance to escape. You think she’s mad?”

Lance chuckles “One thing to know about our captain, she’s INCREDIBLY forgiving. She doesn’t stay mad for long.”

Flynn puts an arm on his shoulder “Those darker parts of her, that’s the outlier. She’ll be back to herself soon enough.”

~

Flynn later that night goes to the captains quarters, and Rapunzel doesn’t appear to be there. He knocks on the wall and she answers. 

“Flynn?”

“Can I come in Blondie?”

“Of course.”

He opens a secret door in the wall and sees her kneeling on the ground. She had a little spot set up for her prayers or whenever she needed to clear her head.

“You know, never thought I’d date a religious woman.” He quips 

“I wasn’t religious when you met me.” He got the slightest bit of a smile out of her

“Very true. But still.” There was a bit of a pause as he leaned up against the wall “He told me what happened you know. One of the people on your list right?”

“Yea.”

“Have you considered that maybe you’re not ready to take your revenge yet?”

She gives him an unsure look “What do you mean?”

“You’re on a path of growth right? You think rushing into problems head first, putting your friend in danger, that that’s what you’re supposed to do?” 

“No. But you know what he was a part of.” She stood up

He goes up to her and quickly holds her hands hands softly “Rapunzel, I have no doubt that you will get justice. You were robbed of your childhood. It was cruel, painful, and absolutely unforgivable. But don’t let them rob you of your new life as well. You have friends and you’re doing good in this world.”

She instantly hugs him, nuzzling her head into his chest and he just holds her “Thank you. I really need you, you know.”

He smirks “I know. I’m great aren’t I?”

She giggles “You really are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Inventor  
> Race: Gnome  
> Class: Artificer (Alchemist)/ Rogue (Arcane Trickster)  
> Alignment: ?  
> STR: 10  
> DEX: 16  
> CON: 15  
> INT: 19  
> WIS: 7  
> CHA: 13


	9. Pirate’s Paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raps takes her crew to Pirate’s Paradise where a few of their friends happen to live. The crew is inspired by Varian’s fanfic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not exactly Halloween-ish. But something interesting nonetheless.

As Lance finishes his final not on the flute he is greeted by the applause of Flynn, Varian and Ruddiger, and the proud nay of Maximus. He bows with a smirk on his face.

Varian’s face is of wonder “You know so many instruments.”

“Why Thank you. It’s a gift. Truly.”

“You know, I also happen to know a few.” Flynn comments “You should hear me on the woodblock.”

Varian chuckles “Very Cool!” He suddenly wants to change the subject. He really wanted to bond with these guys since he hasn’t spent too much time with them since joining the crew “So why’d you take the names Flynn Rider and Lance Strongbow? That because of the books?”

Flynn smirks “Yea. I loved them growing up.”

“Me too!”  
Lance chuckles “Flynn used to read to the kids in the orphanage every day. Heck we used to play out the scenes for them. It was only natural that it became our personas too.”

Varian thought on that a bit. “Huh. That gives me an idea.”

~

Varian drags Raps and Cass out to the main deck of the ship. Pascal on Raps shoulder. They are very confused. He shows them two seats on the main deck facing the forecastle deck. There’s a makeshift curtain as if they were waiting to see a show.

“Oh boy” Cass chuckles awkwardly, realizing that this may be a disaster 

But Rapunzel’s smile was very wide and excited “This looks like FUN.”

Varian goes in front of the curtain and begins to present. “Dearest captain and Bosun. We give you the workshopped staged version of ‘Flynnigan Rider and the Lost Medallion of Mazaballa’”

The scene starts and Flynn is striding through on Max “Haha! What a good day, giving to the poor.”

Lance arrives on stage in a dramatic way “My dearest friend Flynn Rider, There you are!”

“Lance, my good buddy, what’s wrong?”

“The evil Lawbearer is harming the civilians in the nearby town. We need to save them.”

“I shall.”

Rapunzel looks to Cass and whispers “I’m pretty sure the script needs some work. But I’m liking the story.”

Varian is holding Ruddiger up who happens to be playing a young child. While Varian has a businessman looking fake mustache on. The scene seems to be that ‘the lawbearer’ is going to push ‘the child’ off a cliff or something “Ahaha. You have broken my laws by being too poor to pay my taxes. You now are going to be thrown up this cliff young boy.”

“Oh no! Not the young boy!” Rapunzel shouts, having fun being an active and supportive member of the audience 

Flynn rushes back on stage “Not so fast evil doer!”

“Flynn Rider. At last we meet you scoundrel rogue.”

“Well I’d rather be a scoundrel that a crook! Hiya!” Flynn comments back as the two start stage sword fighting,

Lance meanwhile gets Ruddiger free from his bonds. 

“Ha! It’s over Lawbearer!”

Varian as ‘the Lawbearer’ looks and sees that Ruddiger as ‘The Boy’ has been saved “Curses! This isn’t over Rider!”

“I bet it isn’t.”

“I’ll be back!” He runs off and then comes back on and the five performers bow. Raps stands up and applauds loudly while Cass sits and gives a soft, amused, clapping. “Whatcha think?”

“I like the story so far. But maybe we should workshop it a bit more.” Rapunzel comments

“Oh?”

“The script is a bit sloppy and let’s be honest Varian, you don’t seem like that much of a villain.” She ruffles his hair “You’re too cute”

“I think I could pull it off. But do you have a better idea?”

“You think the Lawbearer could be a woman. Because Cass can SO be threatening.”

The Tiefling was currently still sitting, using the chair Raps just got out of for a footstool “She makes a point.”

“She’s replacing me as the villain? You sure?” He asks “I mean not that I’m against creating a new part for myself.”

“It’s your script. That’s just my suggestion” Raps giggles “We can add more parts and work on the script. This could be a really fun project!”

“Hey don’t forget about us?” Flynn comments 

“You all were great too.” Rapunzel kisses his cheek “I’m glad you’re all getting along.”

“Hey, I’ve been Flynn Rider for a while now. And I can be him in more than one sense now. I’m not gonna complain.”

“Yea. Maybe we can give Flynn Rider a lady love.” She winks at him

“Or a gentlemen.”

“Huh?”

“He’s bisexual in the books.” He explains “In some books he’s with a guy, others he’s with a girl.”

“What do YOU want it to be?”

Flynn smirks “I’m fine with either as long as it’s played by you.”

“That's the spirit.” She kisses him again but this time on the lips

“Yea we can fit that in.” Varian states 

Raps turns back to him “We can workshop it once we land since we’re close. Everyone be ready to be welcomed with open arms for once.”

~

They dock the ship at a harbor of an island. Pirate Paradise. Raps had explained to Varian that this island is a safe haven for all pirates, as long as they don’t stir up trouble in its walls. Raps had some friends here and apparently she was a close friend to the woman who ran the place. 

“Here we are. Home away from home.” She smiles wide

“Wow... this place looks... shady.” Varian comments, seeing how everything looks like a freaking mess

“Yea, but it’s lovely when you actually take the time to know the people. And the best part, no marines ever dare to try and catch you when you’re here.” Rapunzel smiles wide

“Well that’s good.”

Flynn cuts in “Though we should probably show him to the Head Boss. Because of who his father is.”

Rapunzel nods “Fair point. But I mean, we were going to see her anyway. Me and Flynn can take him. The rest of you, meet us at the Duckling.”

~

Raps and Flynn take Varian to a building in the middle of the town. It very much seems like the town hall of the place. A bunch of pirate flags fly nearly on strings. He notices the Jolly Roger of their crew. He even notices another one right next in a very similar style. But the colors are reversed and instead of a chameleon skull, it had a lion’s.

As soon as he saw it, it hit him. This was the flag of the Sun Warriors, led by Fredric, the Pirate King. He took a good look at it for a minute. He remembered his dad telling stories about the pirate king. How they used to be adversaries, and they’d always do battle. 

But before he could think about much else, Flynn had grabbed his wrist and started to pull him back. “Go sightseeing later, kid. We got somewhere to be.”

Once they get to the town hall they notice a human woman exiting. The woman had medium skin and long black hair that she wore in a ponytail. She wore gold earrings, bracelets, and a singular necklace with an opal blue gem. 

Rapunzel immediately smiled at the sight of this woman “Jasmine!”

“Rapunzel?” She suddenly smirks back “It’s very good to see you.” She comes over and the two hug. She then looks to Varian. “And who’s your friend? New crew member.”

“Yea. This is Varian.”

“Hi. I’m Varian.”

“As in the mad alchemist?” She smirked “Wanted Alive. Now that’s an interesting thought. I heard you burned down a sacred library.”

“That wasn’t me. I was framed.” He admits “Rapunzel took me in thankfully though.”

“That sounds about right.” She smirks “Even if you didn’t do it, any friend of Rapunzel’s is welcomed here”

“We brought him to the town hall so you can grant him entry” Flynn continues “His father is a marine but we wanted to show you that he’s not his father.”

Jasmine gave him a suspicious look. “Oh? Is that so? Anyone I’d know?”

“Vice admiral Quirin” Varian responds 

“As in hunted down Rapunzel’s father Quirin?” Jasmine was suddenly surprised. “No wonder you’re wanted alive.”

“Her father. I know he was a paladin but...” he suddenly turns to Raps who chuckles awkwardly

“There’s a reason the pirate king’s flag is next to mine.” She smiles awkwardly

Varian was going to say something until he heard a voice coming from a figure on top of the town hall. “Flynn Rider. As I live and breathe.” 

Flynn smirks “Emphasis on the breathe huh?”

Varian notices the humanoid figure jumped down from the building and glides down without a problem. As he landed right by them he notices the character’s figure. Skin with a light blue hue to it, baggy pants and only wearing an unbuttoned vest as a shirt. He had an opal gem in his forehead matching the gem on the necklace that jasmine wore around her neck. 

“Aladdin.” Flynn smirks “About time we see each other once more.”

Varian recalled the feel of this man being similar to a woman he recently met. “A Genasi?”

Aladdin suddenly smirked at him “Used to be a human. But then I happened to free a djinn. We became friends and he gifted me abilities as a gift.” He sticks his hand out to him “It’s a pleasure” Varian shakes it back and he instantly turns back to Flynn. “We need to catch up.”

“You two seem close.”

“We were crewmates not too long ago.” Flynn admits. “He left that crew before I did.”

“I do not miss being under the Black Tyrant.” Aladdin admits.

“The Black Tyrant?” 

“I’ll explain sooner or later.” Flynn shrugs “Come on, we can go get drinks now.”

“Awesome.” Aladdin begins to go along with

“Ahem.” Jasmine states “You’re still on duty.”

“Excuse me. May I, head boss.” Aladdin smirks. 

“Even if I said no you’d disobey. So sure.” She smirks back. “Go have fun. However, Raps may I speak to you privately.”

“Oh sure. I’ll catch up guys”

~

Jasmine lead Rapunzel to her office in the town hall “You think having that kid on your ship is a good idea.” She began

“For one, he’s not technically a kid. He’s eighteen. And secondly, Yea. I need him. And so far he’s been proving himself.”

“Look, I’m not worried about him causing trouble here. If you vogue for him, I’ll believe you. But you realize who’s after you if you keep him by your side.” She explains “I’m worried for you as a friend.”

“I know. I may not be able to handle the vice admiral right now. But that’s why we avoid him.” Raps states “That’s why we’re here. Quirin won’t come here.” 

“Do you honestly plan to stay here forever? I know your goal. And you can’t do that by staying here.”

“It’s only for the time being. Until the heat has died down a bit.”

Jasmine leans on her desk, taking a deep sigh “Okay. But be careful and watch your back.”

~

Flynn, Varian, and Aladdin enter a local pub. One labeled “the Snuggly Duckling”. As they enter they immediately see Lance chatting it up with some of the other patrons while Cass sits down and enjoys a drink.

“Hey! My friends! How are you all doing?” Flynn comes in, immediately expecting them to welcome him.

Varian could see an old gnome chatting it up with a goat in one corner. At a table nearby there was Lance chatting it up with a half-orc with a large nose, a Goliath with Viking helmet, and a blue Dragonborn with a hook for a foot. Cass was being served drinks by a tall human in a scary mask, and there was a mime pretending to play piano right across from an actual piano. He couldn’t guess what species the mime was. 

Flynn instantly goes over to where Lance is “Big Nose! Vlad! And...” he looks to the Dragonborn who looks somewhat familiar but he’s never met him “And you...”

The bartender speaks up “That’s Hookhand’s brother.”

“What’s your name? HookFOOT” Flynn laughs as suddenly he shows him his hooked foot. “Haha. What a lovely hook. Where is old Hookhand?”

“On a tour across Ellastraya. The lucky bastard.” His brother said, a bit unamused. 

Aladdin suddenly raises Varian’s hand high “I’d like you all to meet Varian. The newest member of the Sunspark crew”

A few of the thugs get up to inspect him. At first Varian feels a little threatened but then they pick him up with smiles on their faces. “It’s a pleasure!” The half-orc states

“Oh geez. Thanks” he smiles 

The bartender comes over and places three more beers on the table as they place Varian down on a seat. “Your Captain is our hero, you know” he states

“Yea. If it weren’t for her, we'd all be in the slammer. Or worse.”

“Kind of on me a bit” Cass admits from the stool “But live and forget I suppose!” She lifts her beer. 

The bartender looks back to her “You can get yourself your new drink.”

Cass shrugs “Fine. It’s on my captain’s tab anyway.” She smirks and goes to get it.

Raps suddenly enters excitedly “Hello Snuggly Duckling Crew!!”

“Rapunzel!” They quickly cheer back

“I see you met my new friend.” She giggles and joins the table. “Two for me please.”

The bartender immediately had two drinks ready for her. “Just how you like it, Raps.”

“This is why I love this island.” Raps smirks. “It has the best people” She pulls Varian by her and wraps an arm around him, “This kid is the finest mind I’ve ever met. Treat him with respect.”

Varian looked up to his captain and smiled. Sure, she had some suspicious parts about her. The more he learned the more interesting she became. But the way she treated him in times like this definitely made him feel like she genuinely cared about him. Which is nice. 

Hopefully that didn’t change anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jasmine  
> Race: Human  
> Class: Rogue (Inquisitive)  
> Alignment: LN  
> STR: 14  
> DEX: 20  
> CON: 16  
> INT: 17  
> WIS: 12  
> CHA: 15


	10. Lamp of the Efreet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jasmine sends the crew on a rescue mission to the nearby desert. They find more than what they were looking for.

Years ago,

Flynn, Lance, and Aladdin were being led through the desert by a figure they had only recently met. A sorcerer who referred to himself as Jafar. This is before Aladdin got his blue skin and the gem in his head. “There’s a reason marine’s don’t mess with Pirate’s Paradise.” Jafar told them “When this society was set up years ago, they did indeed try to take it for themselves. But the deserts made it impossible to confront them by land?”

“And by sea?” Asked Flynn

“They apparently had a secret weapon. And that’s why we are going to this cave.” He states

“Look, I’ll do whatever the captain says” Aladdin states “You don’t mess with what the black tyrant wants.” 

“Oh believe me, I’m not afraid of her” Jafar states “Just be lucky we’re allies.”

As they walk Aladdin, not watching his step, suddenly slips into a ditch not too far away. “Yo street rat?” Flynn called out to his friend “You Okay?”

“Been better.” He suddenly looked up to see the cave. A huge Sphinx statue lead to the entrance. And it seemed to speak to them. 

“Only a diamond in the rough can answer” 

Aladdin gets up, scratching his head and looking back at Jafar. “You sure about this?” 

“Just get me the lamp and you and your crew can have all the treasure you desire.” He states

Lance puts a hand on Aladdin’s shoulder “You got this, buddy.”

Aladdin nods. He steps before the Sphinx and it looks down at him. After examining him, it soon let’s him in.

~

An hour later, Aladdin comes out of the cavern. Empty handed.

“Did you find it?” Jafar asks

“The place was filling with lava before I had the chance. No luck.” He admits. He was lying.

“What good are you!” The sorcerer suddenly gets angry and goes to attack with a spell. But before he can Flynn and Lance are ready to defend. Lance standing in front of him and Flynn sneaks behind him and gets his sword up to the sorcerers throat.

“I wouldn’t suggest that”

Jafar grits his teeth “This isn’t over.” He suddenly disappears. 

Lance turns to Aladdin “You found it didn’t you.”

“Yea... but I need it”

~

Present day,

It had been two weeks since the Sunspark crew had landed on Pirate’s Paradise. And they happened to be on their ship practicing for their show. 

“Come on, Pascal this is your number!” Raps says as she hands the chameleon his script

Pascal gives her a look like she’s crazy

“Okay, Yea I know you can’t sing. But it’s gonna be SO CUTE.”

“Since when was this supposed to be a musical?” Cass complained from the makeshift stage. 

“Yea.” Flynn adds “The books didn’t really have musical numbers you know”

“We have a perfectly fantastic bard on the ship. It’s a shame to not use him to his fullest. Plus, this was his idea.”

Lance comes out in a sweater and a scarf. “Alright! Who’s ready for some MAGIC!” He said with a sassy attitude. 

“Are we sure about this?” Cass said, still a bit embarrassed

“Nonsense darling” Lance hands her the song he wrote “I gave you nothing but the best villain song the theater has to offer.” 

Cass looks at it in interest. “I think I could be down for this.”

Varian arrives out of the ship to the makeshift stage with his coffee. “What? Did rehearsal start already?”

“We started early” Raps admits, very clearly taking her role as director seriously. “You should be excited, Mr. Writer.”

“Yo Var!” Cass calls out, “can you help me with motivation”

“Motivation? The Lawbrearer is not a complicated villain. This isn’t supposed to be too serious. It’s a fanfiction.”

“An excellently crafted fanfiction” Raps adds

“Well I can’t argue with that. But it is mostly for fun.”

It’s at that moment they are boarded by both Jasmine and Aladdin. “Hey, are we interrupting something.”

“Rehearsal” Varian answers 

Jasmine quickly chuckles “Did you all come to Pirate’s Paradise just so you can put on a stage show”

“No. But it definitely is a benefit.” Lance smiles, practicing his choreography beautifully. 

“Lance... buddy” Flynn states “None of us are that light footed.”

Pascal suddenly coughs and perfectly does the steps Lance just did.

“Show off”

“I’m sure with practice we’ll get it” Raps encourages them. 

“I hate to interrupt but can we get a favor from you guys?” Jasmine states

“Of course. What exactly do you need?”

“Jackalweres. A pack of these creatures recently made their home at a temple out in the desert we were working on excavating. I was wondering if you guys could go with Aladdin to get rid of them.”

“Yes! I’m in the mood to kill some things.” Cass adds, then looks to Varian suddenly “Not that I don’t like your play. It’s just. There’s only enough I can take before I’m fatigued.”

Raps turns to her crew “We can spare some time right?” They all nod their heads. Lance a little reluctantly. 

“Excellent.”

~

“It’s around here.” Aladdin states as he takes them through the desert outside Pirate Paradise. 

“Man does this place HAVE to be a desert island. It’s so hot” Lance complains

“This won’t take long Lance.” Flynn chuckles “I mean how hard could jackalweres be?”

“What’s a jackalwere?” Varian asked.

“There’s one” Aladdin suddenly says as he points 

Just like Varian expected, this beast looked like a jackal version of a werewolf. “Nevermind. My question has been answered.”

Aladdin smirk “I got this one” suddenly a bow and arrow appears in his hands. As he goes to shoot the arrow starts to spark with electricity. He shoots and directly hits the creature's chest. It looks their way and starts to growl, but just as it does it gets electrocuted and falls to the ground in a smoldering pile.

“So cool!” Varian excitedly says

Aladdin smirks “Thanks. It’s my pact weapon. Granted to me by my good friend.”

“How is that crazy genie anyway?” Lance asked, clearly with great interest. 

“Pretty good last time he came to visit. The guy is busy doing his thing on the elemental plane of air. So I’m not gonna bother him unless he wants to be”

“Aladdin here is a warlock” Raps explains to him “Gives him some cool arcane abilities”

“Thanks. You’re cool too though.” He smiles back “I see the temple up ahead. Doesn’t look like that one strayed too far from the pack. This shouldn’t take long.” 

~

It didn’t take long to take care of the jackalweres just as they suspected. The temple seemed barren aside from that. But it didn’t stop Varian from having a bad feeling. 

“Everything Alright Var?” 

“Yea... I just... hear something.” He goes to a door he can see in sight and opens it. There, hiding in the closet was what appeared to be a human woman. “Miss, are you okay?”

“Jennie?” Aladdin seemed to recognize her

“You know her?”

“She was the head of the research project going on in this cave”

Jennie shivered. “Thank god you’re here. Those beasts had me scared to death.”

“You’re safe now.” Varian smiles at her.

“Thank you young halfling.” She quickly wraps him in a hug and Varian smiles back sweetly. For a brief second Varian can swear she’s sniffing him but he leaves it be.

“Don’t worry they’re gone now. How’s the research. Did they get anything important.” Aladdin asks

“Not that I know of.” She answers. “I’ll go check on it now.”

“Excellent” she smiles widely and goes to check

“Did she just sniff you?” Cass suddenly nudges Varian. “I don’t trust her, can you make sure she’s not doing anything suspicious”

Varian nods “Sure thing”

~

Thankfully Varian is small and nimble and able to sneak around well. He followed Jennie without much of a hassle. She went to a different room in the temple where there was a pedestal with a red oil lamp. 

“Yes!” She smirked “Looks like that wasn’t all in vain” she smirks as she grabs the lamp. She looks at it excitedly like she was clearly looking for it. “Perfect.” She says with a bit of what seemed like a purr. She suddenly looks back towards Varian. “I see you, you know. Come on out.”

Realizing he’s been caught Varian does come out “Sorry, just being cautious”

“It’s okay.” She said calmly. Catching Varian off guard. For a woman who was just in danger she seems rather calm about this whole thing “I owe you one for saving me anyway.” She goes over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He was too confused to do anything. That and a mix of the tone in her voice made him stay as she started to move her finger around a bit.

Something then came over him. A sudden feeling of admiration and lust and suddenly... it’s gone. She was trying to cast some type of spell on him and it failed. He resisted it.

He quickly backed away from her. “W-What are you?”

She quickly grinned “You didn’t believe that those idiot Jackalweres could take this place on their own. No. They belonged to me.'' Her form suddenly starts to shift as she lets a disguise self spell go. She’s suddenly taller. Actually no, Varian realizes. She almost looked like a centaur now, but instead of a horse it was the body of a lion. She grinned a fierce grin. 

“I gotta go” Varian immediately goes to run back to his friends. 

However, lions are really fast so she was already blocking the exit before he could barely go anywhere. Her sharp teeth grinned evilly and the lion body was ready to pounce. “If I can’t have you as my new servant, I may as well have you for a snack. You’re bite sized anyway.”

She goes to attack but she’s suddenly hit with an Eldritch Blast “Back away from him!” 

“Cassie!” Varian smiles as he notices Cass standing between him and his attacker “Thanks!” 

“Don’t mention it” she smirks 

Varian takes his chance to quickly hand Cass a stone. “Take this.”

Cass looks at the stone confused “what the...?”

Before she can question it she is attacked by the monster. But as it goes to attack it suddenly stops, halting, for some reason not being able to attack.

“Sanctuary Stone” Varian states. “It has the effect of the spell.”

“Perfect!” Cass smirks “Oh kitty cat, this is gonna be fun!” 

The monster suddenly turns back and runs off through the hallway.

“Guess Raps and the guys can handle it.” Cass suddenly shrugs and goes over to the lamp. “Why did she want this thing so badly?”

“Beats me” Varian admits

“I’m going to check it out” Cass says as she goes over to the lamp. She begins to examine it, not realizing that she’s rubbing it and then suddenly a red mist emerges from it. 

The man that emerges from it is a large red figure holding a staff with a snake on it. Varian quickly realizes. He had recently done some reading on genies after meeting Aladdin. And this figure wasn’t a genasi like him, this was a full genie. A fire genie, an efreet. 

“Finally!” He shouts out loudly. He suddenly looks down to the two figures who freed him 

Cass suddenly smirks and looks to Varian “Check it, got myself a genie.”

The genie suddenly gives the two a glare. “You don’t know who I am? I am Jafar, a power arcane sorcerer.” 

“Well now you’re my genie” Cass taunts 

Yet more glare only comes from him

“Cass, you really should let him go. It’s really unfair for him” Varian states

“But I want my unlimited wishes”

“If you believe that I can grant you anything you wish you are sorely mistaken. I am great, but not omnipotent” Jafar states “But free me, and I will make it worth your wild”

“I mean, if you can’t do what I want then sure.” She shrugs “go ahead, you’re free.”

“Yes!” He grins 

It’s just then that Raps and the others came around “Hey Cass you we’re right about...” she notices the Efreet and glares “Jafar! I thought you were dead”

“You just assume I was dead when I didn’t come back, huh?”

“Whatever you do, you can’t release him, Cass!” Aladdin states

“Too late street rat. She has already done so.” 

Cass, clearly angry about this, immediately unsheathes her swords and goes to attack. But each swing doesn’t do much. He just scoffs. “Nice try.”

Varian, reacting quickly, grabs the lamp and tries to get it to work again to put Jafar back in. “Come on. The enchantment has to work” he begins to get it to work again. But as he does Jafar happens to notice and he casts a spell at Varian using his staff. Varian tries to resist the effect but he can’t. 

And suddenly his face goes slack and his mind goes blank. As it comes back, things aren’t as they seem, they're... different. He drops the lamp and it shatters into pieces

Flynn and Lance quickly check up on him. “Varian buddy, you Okay?”

Varian looks up at the two of them. He didn’t know the names of who he was looking at anymore. But he could tell one thing, These are his friends. He starts to giggle.

“That spell...” Lance recognizes it “It’s feeblemind. It’s a POWERFUL spell.”

“Varian!” Cass shouts out in concern 

Jafar smirks “so long” he laughs as he suddenly disappears in a cloud of smoke

“JAFAR!” Raps tells in frustration at her disappearing enemy. Flynn quickly puts a hand on her shoulder to calm her.

Cass and Aladdin rush over to Lance who’s trying to fix Varian. “Varian... buddy... Everything okay?”

Varian just giggles 

Lance sighs “Feeblemind is a hard spell to fix. It decreases the targets intelligence to a point where they can’t comprehend language”

“Like not at all?” Raps asks in concern. Lance just nods no. 

Cass looks to Lance “How do we fix this?”

“Every thirty days there’s a chance he can break the spell.” 

“We can’t wait that long. Can a cleric heal him?” Raps asks

“A powerful enough one can. We have one back at Pirate’s Paradise that can get the job done.” Aladdin states

“Excellent” Raps suddenly looks to Varian “Don’t worry buddy. We’ll fix you up.”

Varian can’t understand the words. But somehow her smiling face makes the scared emotions he was feeling alot better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Race: Air Genasi (Used to be Human)  
> Class: Rogue (Swashbuckler)/ Warlock (Seeker)  
> Alignment: CN  
> STR: 14  
> DEX: 20  
> CON: 11  
> INT: 15  
> WIS: 12  
> CHA: 17


	11. Feeblemind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian’s new condition has the crew worried as they work to fix it. Meanwhile Rapunzel, Aladdin, and Jasmine take on Jafar.

Somewhere else on the same desert.

There’s a species native to Ellastraya called Tabaxi. They are feline-like humanoids with all different types of shades of coat. They exist elsewhere in the world, but their one of the few species native to Ellastraya.

One Tabaxi finds himself on the other side of the desert right by a singled out Oasis. He waits for a meeting, and the meeting comes when a small gnomish figure in a mask greets him. “Inventor, it’s about time” the Tabaxi says

“Look Scar, my research is important. Would you rather me not do accurate tests and be here on time but with inaccurate information?” 

The Tabaxi rolls his eyes “Fine. I see what you mean.”

“I’m doing my best to decipher the texts. It would help if we had someone who could read the stuff but that’s difficult to come by it seems.”

“The alchemist boy. The halfling.” Scar states “He is our key to understanding it.”

“Yea. I know.”

“It seems I might be able to assist.” They hear a voice from nearby. Suddenly Efreet Jafar shows before them in a cloud of smoke.

“So you are alive” Scar says, not so impressed. “You’ve been missing. Where have you been?”

“My attempts to take the lamp, and therefore Pirate’s Paradise, didn’t work the way I had hoped.” He admits

“I see” Scar crosses his arms “Your seat on the assembly has been filled while you were gone. We thought you were dead. And honestly, we don’t regret it.”

“What!? By whom?” He said, clearly upset. The Inventor raises his hand and Jafar gives him a glare “The gnome!” 

“He gets the job done. He has achieved a lot since your absence, Jafar.” 

Jafar greets his teeth “You WILL regret this.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” Scar turns his back on him. Jafar grits his teeth and disappears in a puff of smoke. 

~

“Varian... Varian come on!” Rapunzel shakes him worriedly “You’re a smart guy Varian, you can’t have lost all of that.”

“Raps...” Aladdin tries to reason with her “Jafar’s Staff of Feebleness is a powerful spell. You’re not just going to snap him out of it.”

“Captain, he can't understand you. That spell sucked his intelligence away. He’s acting off of base instinct.” Lance states 

“No it’s not!” She snaps at him and Lance pulls back. 

Raps suddenly realizes that Lance is looking at her in shock and Varian, still not understanding what she’s saying, is realizing that she’s angry and he has back out of her grasp and closer to Cass, who happens to have a hand on his shoulder.

Cass wasn’t good at comforting. But she wanted to try in this instance. For someone she cares about.

Rapunzel gets up and sighs “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t lose my temper. We need to get him to that cleric.”

“Okay.” Aladdin nods. 

Cass however gets up, seeming annoyed at something. “Captain, can I talk to you for a sec.”

“Yea... sure... of course” Raps says as Cass takes her along to a private area

“Why are you so worried about the intelligence?” Cass was quick to question. She looked serious, and almost suspicious 

“Well because that’s a big thing for him. He takes pride in that.” It was true. But she couldn’t help but think there was more to it.

“Yea, but you seem more worried about it than everyone else. Is there something up?”

Rapunzel takes a second, really thinking about what she’s feeling, and sighs “I mean... alchemist’s tongue is indeed a factor but I was more worried about his safety.”

“Just making sure.” She nods and goes to walk away, but Rapunzel grabs her 

“Cass, Wait... you really care about him, don't you?” She meant more than just as a friend. It was pretty clear to her.

But Cass was taken aback by that “I... ah... well yea. He’s a good kid.”

“It’s more than that. I’ve never seen you act so... protective. You’re even confronting ME over him.” Cass wasn’t one to question the captain. She had her issues with the law but in her crew, Cass had always just gone along with what Raps decides, occasionally chiming in to make a comment or opinion known. Plus, Cass was Rapunzel’s best friend.

“I just get along with the guy.” She tries to brush it off

Rapunzel smiles “Cass, you know it’s okay if you feel something for him.” In fact, if Cass really did have feelings for him, Raps absolutely supported it. And she was pretty sure he felt the same.

Cass definitely did feel SOMETHING. But she couldn’t quite say how she felt yet. She wanted more time to think. But she knew one thing that had her a little worried. “It’s just... I don’t know. I’m just concerned about...”

“About what?”

She didn’t want to admit it to her best friend but... “You. Your intentions. You’re my best friend and I trust you with my life, but admittedly, certain things seem sketchy. Like you’re hiding stuff.”

“Cass, you know that there are things I keep hidden. This isn’t new. Why are you so suddenly concerned when you were fine overlooking it before.” They agreed when Cass joined the crew, no talking about pasta. Neither girl really cared to tell.

But this time Cass had a reason “Because sometimes it seems like whatever your plan is, your crusade, it involves him. And I don’t know if I trust that.”

Rapunzel quickly grabs her hands and smiles sweetly at her “Cass, I promise you, I have Varian’s best intentions at heart.”

Cass asks plainly “But does it involve him?”

Rapunzel looks down, giving her a nod “Yes. It does. He is very relevant to my plan.”

“Alchemist’s tongue?”

“Just don’t tell him. I don’t want him to feel like that’s his only worth on the ship.” She pleaded. Varian was useful for many things. Not only that, he was a good friend and good company. She was happy he was on the ship even if that wasn’t the case.

“Fine. I get it. But what else exactly are you keeping from him?” 

“What?”

“I don’t trust that that’s the only one thing you’re hiding. You’ve looked guilty, that something has been prying at your conscience for a bit, ever since Maui.” She knew her best friend we’ll despite not knowing a lot of her past

Rapunzel takes a deep breath, realizing she can’t hide this from Cass “Maui knows Varian’s father, The vice admiral. And Varian’s father wants to find him and reconnect.”

Cass was now back on alert, giving her an unpleasant look “And you didn’t tell him?”

Raps was on the defensive now. “Cass, what if he takes Varian away from us? He never wanted to be a pirate in the first place. This life wasn’t chosen for him and...”

“.... you need him for your plan.” Cass states bluntly.

Rapunzel went red. It stung hearing the words. It was true, that’s exactly what she was doing. And she felt real bad for it. “Yea... but I mean, he’s our friend too. He belongs on this crew with us anyway.”

“That’s not your decision to make Raps!” 

“How do you think you’d feel if he suddenly left us? Since you’re so attached.”

“It’d hurt.” She admits “But I'd at least know he’s happy and that I never lied to him!”

“Hey, I’m keeping my promise, I’m keeping him safe!”

“But what if the best option to keep him safe was him being with his father who could possibly get rid of his bounty or something.”

“That’s...” she hesitates, the idea of it being THAT simple still made her mad. “that wouldn’t happen. You think the marine’s would honestly let go of something like that?”

“Raps, not every person in the law system is corrupt. You should know that by now.”

Logically, she was right. She can’t expect that. But after everything she knows it’s hard to not think so. But she wants to believe the best. “I do... it’s just...”

“No, you need to let go of this obsession and do what is right for your crew, heck, do what’s right for YOUR FRIEND. Since you claim that you care about him.” Cass sternly said to her

“I do!”

“Then show it!”

Rapunzel sighs. She was right. It took some sternness from one of her crew but it worked. Raps wasn’t high enough to not listen to her crew when they made good points. It’s what a good leader did. Even if it hurts a lot. “you’re right.” 

She walks over back to the others and suddenly kneels down to be face first with Varian. “Varian, I know you can’t understand me right now. But we are going to fix this. You got me? I won’t let you down, I promise.” He suddenly smiles at her, not getting the words, but seemingly understanding the sentiment. 

And she hugs him.

~

Jasmine puts her book down. She had just finished putting some notes in it when she’s suddenly visited by an unexpected visitor. An Efreet that looks oddly familiar.

“I like what you did with the place.” He says “I like it alot better than when your father happened to be in charge.”

“Jafar.” Jasmine immediately gets up, giving him a glare “So you escaped”

“Yea. I’m here to finish what I started.”

She suddenly laughs “I’m not bound to the idea of marriage anymore. I’m the head boss now and I don’t need anyone’s say so.”

“I’m taking a different tactic. I never cared about the people. I just wanted access to the harbor. So either you give me the place, or I burn it and all your people to the ground.” He says, and she doesn’t respond. Only stares at him. “I’ll give you till sunset to answer.”

Aladdin suddenly rushes in at full speed and shoots a lightning arrow at Jafar. But Jafar simply deflects it with a magic shield. He then smirks at Jasmine “it seems you still have your pet street rat to help with your decision.” He suddenly disappears once more, but before he does he catches the eye of Rapunzel who happens to cast a spell as he goes.

“Gah!” Aladdin yells on frustration

It’s about then that the rest of the crew enter with the Feebleminded Varian. “Jasmine, we have a problem. You happen to have a cleric on hand right?”

“Yea.” Jasmine instantly rushes over to Varian, placing a hand on his cheek trying to check to see if his consciousness is still there. 

“He got him with a feeblemind huh?”

“Yea. Just like he did to your father.” Aladdin states

“Well it's a good thing we have clerics who are well prepared for this.”

Cass grabs Varian’s arm. “I’ll take him. It seems the rest of you have something to discuss.” She takes him away so the rest of them can talk.

“What happened to Mr Cranky.” Eugene began the conversation “I haven’t seen him since we left you on this island that fateful day. Since you fell in love.”

“Well the journey to that love was a little difficult. Allot of me and my djinn friend having to work around a scene, and fighting off Jafar. Luckily genies are very powerful. But now that Jafar’s a genie, this is problematic.”

“I’m thinking of giving him what he wants” Jasmine admits 

“No. You can’t do that.” Raps states “He may be tough but together we can defeat him.”

“He’s very powerful. Are you sure?”

“Jasmine, this place is my home away from home. I’ll protect it with my life.” She smiles at her

“Thanks.” She takes a deep breath “Fine. But we’re not going to bring too many people into this.”

“How many exactly?” Eugene asks

“Me, her, and Aladdin. The three of us have history with him. This is personal.” Jasmine states “His Staff of Feebleness only works once a day. So we need to strike now. And make it count.”

~

Cass takes Varian to the cleric ward of the building. “Please. You need to heal my friend”

“What’s wrong with him?” One asked. She was the only one there at the time.

“A feeblemind spell.”

The cleric quickly nods “I can handle this” she says as she places a hand on Varian’s head. Her hand starts to glow as he looks up to her in confusion. But suddenly the recognition comes, and he suddenly looks to Cass.

“You good?”

He smiles softly at her “You saved me.” 

She chuckled and kneeled down to him “I’m not going to give up on my friend now am I?” He suddenly hugged her which she instantly felt awkward about. “Oh... ah... okay”

He pulls back “Not a physical touch person got it.” He blushes a bit

She chuckles a bit and hugs him back, “It’s okay every once in a while” She even picks him up, holding him there, making sure he’s okay.

“Oh okay.” Varian giggles, only slightly weirded out by the sudden displays of affection and worry.

~ 

Rapunzel, Aladdin, and Jasmine arrive to a nearby Oasis. There they find Jafar, waiting. “How did you find me?”

Rapunzel answers “I Hunter’s Marked you as I saw you leaving. And we acted fast.”

“You took the Oath of Vengeance, huh Rapunzel?” Jafar smirked “A dark knight. I heard about your betrayal, your vow of revenge against us. Do you really think what you’re doing holds any merit? You were going to be special. Now you’re just a petit criminal.”

“I am a warrior. A hero. Even if you don’t see it I hold the will of the Lawbreaker in my body. The power my father wielded before you robbed me of my true potential!” 

“Well someone has been practicing her revenge speech.” Aladdin suddenly comments

Raps suddenly gave him a quick smile “You like? I’ve really been working hard on it.”

“You think you can take on the Assembly, Rapunzel? You and your group of ragtag misfits. You aren’t special anymore, you lost your chance for greatness. For absolute power.”

“I have power in my friends. Something you wouldn’t know. The assembly betrayed you as well.” She comments “You know nothing of friendship or loyalty. None of you do.”

Jafar just laughs “The Assembly was never about loyalty. It’s about power. A collective group of powers banded together for a goal. You may think you’re holy, but deep down, you crave power like the rest of us. You’re one of us.”

“I am NOT!” Her sword is suddenly unsheathed, her armor appears along with her wings. Her eyes glowed a bright holy light and she charges. 

He is absolutely not fast enough to dodge out of the way of this enraged angels attacks. She quickly lands several strikes that seem to hit so hard they send Jafar crashing back. He instantly looks hurt.

Aladdin and Jasmine watched on in shock. It was clear Rapunzel was strong beforehand but this is the first time either of them are watching her fight. And Jafar was a sorcerer, who aren’t known for being strong or able to take a lot of hits. They suddenly looked at each other and nod, charging into the fight as well. Jasmine throwing daggers and Aladdin shooting lightning arrows at the already injured sorcerer

Jafar suddenly has enough as he suddenly creates what appears to be a gigantic ball of fire in front of him. One big enough to hit all three of them. But he very specifically aims it towards Aladdin and Jasmine. Giving Rapunzel a look just before. “Let’s see what you’re willing to sacrifice for your revenge.”

Rapunzel dashes towards the two of them before Jafar had even finished. All Jasmine and Aladdin could see for a good few milliseconds was fire. They braced for impact until suddenly there was no heat. 

What they saw was their friend right between them. She had her wings spread out as far as they could go, and they were now as physical as they could be and they were singed. They looked over to Rapunzel, who had seemed to suffer a lot of fire damage from that one attack. She had shielded them both from the attack.

“Raps?” Jasmine gave her a concerned look

Raps turned back to her. She was burned in places, hopefully nothing unhealable. But it looked like it hurt a lot. But she was still standing. And she looked to Jasmine, with a smirk on her face. “That’s nothing” she lied, but it very much burned a huge amount of power on Jafar’s part, so she was hopeful she’d win this.

Jafar’s efreet form landed before her “You’re still standing. Not for long.”

Rapunzel wipes some blood off her lip “Funny, was about to say the same for you.”

Suddenly the four of them heard footsteps as a robed figure approached. They all turned to her. They could see her skin under the hood. She had black skin, pointed ears. This was a Drow woman. A dark elf. 

She suddenly held up a pedant, one similar to the necklace Jasmine wore, and she started to speak some words into it. A spell. Something they recognize as similar.

Gas emerged from the pedant, and started to towards Jafar. “What!? No!” The Efreet starts to panic before he gets a good look at the woman’s face. “You!” 

Rapunzel gets a closer look at her, and suddenly realizes who she is. She has only seen the face a few times and only in her other outfit. But that outfit would never be seen here. “You!”

Another name on her list.

Rapunzel’s sword starts to glow as she quickly started walking menacingly towards her. The woman didn’t pay her much attention, only continued with her spell. Meanwhile Aladdin and Jasmine notices the spell sucking Jafar into the pedant. This was a Pedant of Genie Capturing.

As Rapunzel got close she immediately lifted her sword and went for her first strike. But as she does the woman had just finished capturing Jafar and her other hand goes up and casts Hold Person on Rapunzel. Who instantly freezes. 

The hood doesn’t come off of the woman. Drows dislike the sunlight, but Rapunzel did receive a look up from her. And a smirk.

Aladdin and Jasmine don’t recognize her. But she is absolutely stunning. But she gives off this dark energy and creepiness that prevents them from wanting to interfere. Almost like they physically couldn’t. 

She laughs at the frozen warrior before her. “Oh Rapunzel, so rash. So eager to fight. You’ll never truly be rid of us will you?” 

Rapunzel tried to fight it desperately. Tried to aim down. Aim down! She’s right there! She’s right there! 

She merely chuckled. “The offer to come back still remains. Take your place in our order. You’re sitting here serving a deity when you could truly BE one. Don’t you want that Rapunzel? Don’t you want to keep your friends safe?”

She only glares at her. That’s all she could do.

“I’m going to go now. The bright light is a pain. Think about it. Gothel would be thrilled if you did.” 

And with a quick flick of her wrist, she was gone in a puff of black smoke. Several seconds later Raps was let go. She fell to the ground, burned, bruised, and now covered in sand. Aladdin and Jasmine went to check up on her but Jasmine stopped her boyfriend when she noticed Raps getting up.

She glared at where the woman had come from and just screamed. Screamed as loud as she could. It’s all she felt she could do in that moment.


End file.
